An Elephant
by nerdcoast
Summary: Starts off at the end of season 4. Gail and Holly try to figure out their feelings and deal with the consequences and joys that follow.
1. Chapter 1

"Gail….Gail…Gail you need to wake up now. Gail?"

Gail slowly opened her eyes to the blinding light. 'Did I leave the light on….why does it smell like bleach?' she thought to herself. Suddenly she realized that there was a hand on her knee and immediately her sleep filled brain went into high gear.

She opened her eyes fully and her surroundings hit her memory like a ton of bricks. She was sitting in the hospital. Sam was shot. Chloe was shot. Oliver… There was something about Oliver too. She couldn't quite remember it all just yet.

"Gail?"

She suddenly remembered the hand on her knee and followed it up to its owner's eyes. Holly was staring at her with concern but clearly trying to hide her worry.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to doze off…I guess I was just a bit exhausted." She looked around her and realized that no one else occupied the waiting room besides them and an older gentleman.

"Holly? Where is everyone?" she asked with no lack of worry on her own part.

"They all went home, or back to the station, mostly. Celery took Oliver home about 20 minutes ago and Dov is upstairs still begging to see Chloe. Everyone else left about an hour ago."

"Why didn't you wake me?" Gail asked, her question sounding almost imposing. If Holly noticed it, she didn't let on.

"I just thought with everything that happened today, you just kinda needed it. I should really take you home though. It's late and I'm sure your bed would be much more comfortable." Holly could see the details of the day making their way back into Gail's memory as she continued to wake from her nap. It broke her heart to see her have to relive those thoughts but she knew there wasn't much she could do to save her that pain.

Gail didn't respond but just stood from her chair slowly. She walked half way to the exit before turning around. Holly was still sitting in her chair looking at her. She walked back towards Holly, stopping just before her. "Holly, are you coming?"

She got out of her chair and followed Gail outside in silence. Without saying a word, Gail took Holly's hand in her own and Holly could feel her shakily slide her fingers between hers. Holly could tell she was deep in thought. She wasn't even sure if Gail knew that she had taken her hand in her own. It wasn't until they were both in the car that Gail spoke again.

"Holly?"

"Yes." Holly replied with that same worried expression, her eyes now glancing towards Gail.

"Can you take me home?" Gail stared blankly out the side window.

"Of course. "

"Not my place. I…I mean…could I stay with you tonight? I just, I don't think I can talk to Chris yet. I just don't want to go back to that. Can I just stay with you? Please?" Gail chanced a look over at Holly to see her answer. Holly shook her head yes and started the car.

The trip to Holly's apartment was quiet. Gail continued her pensive stare through the window and Holly continued her incessant worrying. She was concerned for the woman beside her. She knew it had been a physically and emotionally exhausting day for her. It was a lot to take in. She could tell Gail needed a friend. The way she had asked so softly and honestly to stay with Holly said enough about her state of mind. Holly wanted more than anything to be able to hold her in her arms and tell her it would be ok.

Holly shut the car off and looked over to Gail. "This is me. Do you want to come up or do you need a minute?"

Gail said nothing in return but got out of the car and waited for Holly to follow. Holly led her up to her apartment and opened the door. It was dark, but Gail could make out bits and pieces of the room from the light of the moon. Holly led her inside and closed the door. Gail felt a weird sense of calm come over as the lights came on. The apartment was so warm. The lighting in the room made everything seem like it had this soft glow as if the room was light by a candle. The apartment had an open floor plan and Gail could see that this warmth spread throughout the apartment. She found herself wandering to the coffee table and glancing at the books and magazines strewn across it. The breakfast bar had a single coffee mug sitting on the edge. She found herself in the kitchen looking at the magnets on the fridge. Nerd stuff of course. The wine rack on the counter, the blanket draped across the sofa, the framed photographs on the walls, everything about this place was so inviting, so lived in, so Holly.

Gail turned back towards the front door and noticed that Holly was standing there patiently letting her take it all in. Holly took off her coat and hung it on a hook by the door still not stepping toward Gail.

"What? Do I smell or something?" Gail shot at her.

Holly couldn't help herself as a slight laugh made its way past her lips. Gail had gotten a bit of bite back. At least for right now, she seemed to be doing better.

"I thought I was the one that smelled?" Holly offered.

"I didn't say you didn't smell too, nerd." Gail replied plopping down on the couch.

Holly smiled slightly and walked towards the kitchen. She opened a cabinet and was glad to see she still had some decent alcohol selections to offer. She pulled two glasses from the rack above the stove and brought them to Gail along with a couple drink choices. "Pick your poison."

Gail glanced at her options and chose the bottle of whiskey. She took off the top and brought the bottle to her lips. Holly, realizing that they were apparently not going to be using glasses after all put them to the side.


	2. Chapter 2

Holly glanced down at the top of Gail's head. She smiled slightly. They had spent an hour and a half talking about random things. Music, movies, terrible first dates, favorite restaurants, just light topics, nothing serious. She didn't want Gail to have to worry any more tonight. Somewhere through the conversation Gail had laid her head down on Holly's thigh and stretched her legs out across the couch. Eventually she drifted off to sleep.

As much as Holly hated waking Gail for the second time tonight, she knew she would be better off in a bed. She brushed the sleeping woman's hair out of her eyes and gently woke her.

"Hmm. What do you want? Let me sleeeeepppp…." A very groggy Gail slurred out.

"Let me put you to bed. Come on, up we get." Holly said struggling to pull Gail up off the couch. "Just let me grab some stuff real fast and then you can go to bed."

Holly walked towards her bedroom turning as she got to the door to make sure Gail hadn't lain back down on the couch. She quickly brushed her teeth and threw on some plaid pajama pants and was pulling a t-shirt over her head when the bedroom door burst open.

"You know, it's not very polite to wake someone up and then just leave the …." Gail had wandered in just in time to catch Holly topless. "Oh shit. Sorry. I'll just wait outside. Sorry."

Holly threw on the t-shirt and walked out to find Gail. "It's fine, no big deal. Sorry, I just had to change and get ready for bed. I'm done now though. "Holly offered apologetically.

"So you wake me up, leave me sitting here alone, and then not even bring me something to wear?" To anyone else Gail would come off as upset but Holly can see a small smirk on her face. Without another word she turns back around to her room and digs out another pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt for the other woman.

"Here you go sleeping beauty." Holly says as she tosses them to Gail. "The sheets are clean; I just put them on this morning. Also there are clean towels in the bathroom if you want to shower in the morning. I don't have an extra toothbrush though, sorry. If you need anything else I'll be in the spare room."

"Holly?" Gail says in a suddenly serious tone. "Thank you. For letting me stay. You really didn't have to and I know you have done a lot already so I don't want to ask you for anything else…." Gail pauses for a moment. Holly gets the feeling that whatever she is about to ask for is going to take a lot out of her to request. "Can you sleep in there with me? I don't want to be alone tonight. I really just want to know you are next to me."

Holly walks towards Gail and takes her hand. "Are you sure?"

Gail looks to the floor and whispers 'yes' almost as if she is ashamed for needing her.

Holly lets her hand go long enough to turn off the light before taking it back into her own and leading Gail into her bedroom and closing the door.

"Wow." Gail blurted out. She hadn't had a chance to really see anything the first time she stepped foot in Holly's room. She glanced around her and can't help but feel that it is even more welcoming and warm than the rest of the apartment. There are two bookcases on each side of the room. One is slightly larger than the other. It is filled with novels. The other is next to a small desk loaded with paperwork. This one is stuffed with books as well, but they are different. All of the books are medical journals and reference books. Everything from anatomy, to molecular biology, to criminal pathology. More nerd stuff. Her bed is huge and dressed with a gorgeous white and brown comforter with the outline of trees across the bottom. The headboard looks hand carved and rustic. A large dresser sits across from the bed. A couple candles sit in one corner, but the dresser is mostly filled with old black and white photos. Gail assumes they are of Holly's family. There is a small framed scroll above it.

"Where is this from" Gail asked looking toward the scroll.

"I got that about 10 years ago traveling through Asia." Holly notices Gail smile slightly and return towards the bed.

"What about this?"

Holly follows Gail's gaze to the headboard. "I um, I actually made that. I like to do woodworking projects sometimes. That I made about 3 or 4 years ago." Holly couldn't help but notice the impressed look on Gail's face.

"Well I am going to wash up real quick, do you mind?" Gail asked pointing towards the attached bathroom.

"Go ahead."

"Ok, but you better be here when I get back, nerd." With that Gail shut the door to the bathroom and Holly climbed into the bed.


	3. Chapter 3

Holly heard the bathroom door open slowly. She could tell Gail was trying to be quiet in case she had fallen asleep already. "Shit…what the fuck." She heard Gail whisper as the bed moved slightly. "Stupid toe. Damn that hurt." Holly felt the other side of the bed sink as Gail climbed in.

She knew that Gail needed someone tonight, and after all it was Gail that had asked to come here, and asked her to sleep in this bed with her, but for some reason she was afraid to turn around and reach out to her. After what had happened in the conference room she wasn't quite sure where they stood and tonight was not the time to try to find out. But a part of her just couldn't help herself. "Gail?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it ok if I hold you? Tonight? I mean, if not it okay too, I just want you to feel safe and that I am here for you, but I don't want you to feel uncomfortable, or get the wrong idea or anything, or…I just…I...um…never mind, jus-just don't worry about it…" Holly felt Gail roll over and before she realized it she felt Gail's lips on her own.

"Holly….shut up."

Gail rolled over again this time taking Holly's hand with her so that she rolled with Gail. Gail felt so right pressed up to her. She ran her fingers across Gail's arm. She curled her legs up behind Gail's legs. She felt Gail breathing against her skin. Gail. Gail was in her bed. Gail was in her bed…with her. Gail was in her bed with her, and she just kissed Holly. And with that thought Holly felt a smile cross her face and she fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

When Gail woke up the next morning she realized two things immediately. She was in Holly's bed and Holly was in it with her. She felt her stomach drop. At first she wanted to get up and run out of the room. Then she noticed the feeling in her stomach wasn't panic, it was excitement. Nervous excitement none the less, but regardless she was excited to wake up next to this beautiful brunette. What was happening to her to make her feel so happy to wake up next to a friend? Friend? Really? Holly wasn't just her friend, was she? No. They had become very close, very quickly. At the least she was Gail's best friend. At the most she was, well she wasn't quite sure yet but whatever it was felt right.

Holly stirred and opened her eyes. "Hey. Have you been up long?"

"No. I just woke up right before you." With that Gail leaned over and for the third time in 24 hours placed a kiss on Holly's lips. "Good morning. Wheresthecoffee?" Gail demanded all seemingly one word.

"Well you woke up first so you tell me." Holly said grinning. "You know you are very demanding for someone who has just woken up by the way."

"Coming from the person who didn't even say good morning back."

"Touché."

Holly rolled back over and got out of the bed. "Do you have to work today? I am off so if you don't I was thinking omelets?"

Gail smiled at the thought of food. "No I am off. They called in a bunch of people to help out from another division until they clear everyone. I think they want to make sure that everyone has a clear head with this case. I don't work again until the day after tomorrow. Omelets sound great by the way."

Holly left Gail to snooze a bit at least until she had coffee to placate her. She started the coffee maker and began to prepare breakfast. She decided on spinach and cheese omelets, throwing in some chicken sausage guessing Gail wouldn't be pleased with a meatless meal. As the eggs were cooking she turned the radio on and heard a voice behind her begin to sing along.

"Hey, I didn't know you could sing. Or that you liked Glen Miller for that matter either." Holly said surprised. "You are really talented."

"How observant of you. Are you really sure you are that smart?" Gail was smirking at Holly. "There is a lot about me people don't know. "

Holly laughed and placed the food on the table for them to enjoy. Breakfast was filled with their usual banter. Gail insulted Holly's cooking skills at least twice; however Holly didn't miss the fact that Gail not only ate all of hers but the rest of Holly's too. "Did you need me to drop you off at your apartment?"

"Trying to get rid of me already then?" Gail shot back finishing up the rest of Holly's plate.

"You're a little too chipper for my liking. It is quite obnoxious." Holly could barely get it out of her mouth without laughing.

"Well in that case I wouldn't want to stop now, looks like I'm on a roll. I guess I should just stay here today to torture you then."

"Fine but your breath stinks, so you better do something about that." Holly warned.

"Well I guess since you don't have an extra toothbrush I'll be using yours then." Normally Holly would be petrified of someone else using her toothbrush, but the thought of Gail sharing something that personal didn't faze her at all.

Holly cleaned up the plates and kitchen from breakfast while Gail showered. She was just finishing up when she heard the bedroom door open. She placed the last dish in the dishwasher and turned around. Her mouth dropped open.

"So, I wasn't sure what all I could borrow in terms of clothes…I didn't want to end up in all of your fleece so you better come find me something to wear." Holly couldn't take her eyes off her. Standing in the open doorway of the bedroom was Gail, wet and naked except for the towel she had draped around her body. "Hello? Earth to NERD! My eyes are up here!"

"What? Oh…shit…sorry, I uh, I will go find you something." Holly walked past Gail noticing her smirk and realizing she was most likely blushing enough for Gail to notice too. Holly quickly found Gail a pair of gym pants and a hoodie and set them down on the bed for her. "Hopefully that's ok. No fleece."

"I guess that will do then. Now get out so I can change without you drooling all over yourself."

Holly looked a bit embarrassed before coming up with "Oh, you wish Officer" and leaving the room.


	5. Chapter 5

**_First off thanks for all of the fantastic reviews! I know this is a short one, but I will most likely have a much longer one coming out tomorrow._**

* * *

The rest of the morning was spent drinking coffee and watching old movies. Gail didn't strike Holly as the type but it was her that suggested it. She couldn't help but wonder about Gail. There obviously was a lot that people didn't know about her. "Holly, didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to stare?" Holly realized that she had in fact been staring at Gail while letting her mind wander. "I know I'm like the hottest woman ever but it doesn't mean you get to stare at me all day." Gail seemed a bit proud of herself for catching Holly off guard. How did she keep doing this? Holly wasn't the type to get caught like this. She wasn't the type to get flustered around beautiful women. Then again Gail wasn't just another woman. She laughed it off and gave Gail that little sideways smile before turning back to the TV.

Around noon Holly suggested they go find something to eat. She wanted to get Gail out of the apartment a bit, let her get some fresh air. Gail agreed on the terms that Holly pay, as per Gail fashion. They got dressed, Gail borrowing some of Holly's less "lesbian" clothes. They decided on a small café by Gail's apartment. Well Gail decided on the small café by her place. She really needed some fresh clothes seeing as how she still had on yesterday's underwear. Plus that place had the best donuts.

"Your blood sugar has got to be sky high. Is that your 5th or 6th donut?" Holly asked actually concerned.

"Shotet erd." Gail managed through a mouthful of donut. Holly guessed she had attempted to say 'shut it nerd' and signaled the barista over for another cup of coffee.

"It's not like this isn't a balanced meal, I had a BLT and fries first." Gail explained pushing her cup towards the waiter.

"How stupid of me to forget. Forgive me Officer." Holly joked back.

"You like to think you are a brainiac with your fancy degrees and lab coat and medical jurisprudence, but obviously you are slacking." Gail couldn't help but think about how smart Holly actually was. She didn't even know how many degrees Holly had but she assumed it had to be multiple. She made it a point to remind herself later to do some snooping and find out.

They finished their lunch and Holly paid as promised, well as demanded. As they walked outside Gail grabbed her elbow and started dragging her down the street.

"Uh, the car is right there. Where are we going?" Holly asked.

"My apartment is two blocks away. I just need to grab a few things if I am going to be staying with you again tonight." Holly glanced over at Gail and noticed her smiling. This was the first either of them had mentioned Gail's sleep over. It wasn't that they were necessarily avoiding the topic, but somehow they just hadn't spoken about it yet. "Don't think just because I let you spoon me last night that you get that honor again." Gail's comment jerked Holly out of her short daydream about last night and she chuckled lightly.


	6. Chapter 6

**_As promised. _**

* * *

They stepped up to a familiar building and Holly instantly knew they were there. She had only been here once before when she picked up Gail from the hospital. Gail had lost her keys that night so Holly knocked on the door to find a sleepy Dov answer looking irritated, and confused. Holly explained quickly and left Gail in his care. She had never gone inside and had barely seen any of it through the doorway. Now as she stepped inside she took a look around.

Chris wasn't home and she assumed Dov was at the hospital so it left only her and Gail. Gail left Holly without a word and went to her bedroom to grab her stuff. Holly could tell that boys lived here. There were empty beer cans and half a slice of pizza on the coffee table, three video game controllers on the couch and what might have been the case to a porno on top of the TV. The kitchen had about a week's worth of dirty dishes and two empty bottles of Jack siting by the sink. She saw a number of magnets on the fridge, all of which involved some sort of insult or sexual innuendo. Next to it was a note apparently to Chris from both Gail and Dov demanding never to involve meat in liquor ever again. Beneath that was some sort of contract agreeing to the above that she guessed they had forced Chris to sign.

Holly heard a muffled shout from the bedroom. "Can you grab my toothbrush from the bathroom…it's the pink one. And my deodorant?"

Holly couldn't help herself and laughed out loud at the thought of Gail owning a pink toothbrush. She obliged and grabbed it from the bathroom along with the only woman's deodorant on the counter. When she got back into the living room Gail was sitting on the couch. "I know what you are thinking. Chris and Dov kept using my toothbrush when they were drunk so I only buy pink ones now. Even when they are drunk they won't go near it."

Holly just shrugged and smiled back. "Do you have everything you need or do you have to get anything else."

"Nope I'm ready. Let's go back to Casa de Stewart." With that Gail grabbed Holly's wrist and dragged her back out of the apartment. They walked back to Holly's car with Gail's hand still wrapped around Holly's wrist. Last night Gail had held her hand, but Holly didn't want to push it quite yet. They got to the car and Holly went to get in.

"Give me the keys." Holly turned to Gail with an eyebrow up.

"Why….?"

"Because I am going to take you somewhere. Don't ruin it nerd just give me the keys." Holly handed Gail the keys and walked around to the passenger side. This was another of the things Holly never let anyone do: drive her car. It seemed that somehow these rules didn't apply to Gail. She was quite comfortable with her behind the wheel. She tried looking out the window to gather an idea of where it was this woman was taking her but she didn't recognize any of it. A few minutes later they slowed to a stop.

"We are here. Get out." Holly was immensely confused. They were in what appeared to be a construction area starring at a pile of rebar and chunks of broken concrete.

Holly glanced over at Gail "I'm not unconvinced that I am about to be led into a warehouse and have my kidneys stolen."

Gail rolled her eyes and without offering Holly an explanation turned the car off and got out. "Relax nerd, your organs are safe. Don't you trust me?"

"Of course, I am just confused as to what we are doing here. I mean, couldn't we get in trouble for trespassing or something?" Holly replied getting out of the car none the less.

"Geez nerd you worry too much. Besides I am a cop, remember? I can get us out of any kind of trouble."

Gail started forward heading for a very tall building. Holly reluctantly followed. She found Gail inside the building waiting by an elevator. "Oh, hell no. I'm not getting in that; it probably doesn't even work yet."

"It works, I was here on a call two weeks ago and it works just fine." Holly slowly stepped inside and took Gail's hand in her own. She was terrified of elevators in the first place, and to have to step inside of this thing….that was a lot to ask. She didn't care that Gail gave her a quizzical look as Holly grabbed her hand and their fingers slid together.

"I hate these things." Holly mumbled under her breath. Gail smiled knowing this is probably the first time that Holly has looked to her for comfort. Well besides yesterday when she came to the station but that was for fear of Gail's safety not her own.

The elevator dinged and Holly couldn't help the slight jump she gave at the sound. She rushed out as soon as the doors opened and waited impatiently for Gail to follow. They walked around the side of the elevator and felt a soft breeze. Holly stopped dead in her tracks. The side of the building was still open in parts. She slowly moved forward until she was a few feet from the edge. The view was breathtaking. She could see the whole city from up here and the water seemed to dance in the sunlight. She couldn't help but imagine how amazing this would look at night. She turned to Gail to find her with a wholehearted smile, watching as Holly took in the view.

"Gail, this is, this is fantastic. It's so beautiful up here, you can see everything."

"I know. That's why I brought you up here. To thank you for everything. For yesterday, and last night. And today of course. You have been really great to me. I don't do thank-yous or mushy shit like this very well but I just wanted you to know that it means a lot to me."

Holly's heart skipped a beat. This had to be hard for Gail to open up and admit. "I think you are doing a damn good job at a thank-you right now."

If it was at all possible Gail's smile got even bigger. What was it about this woman that opened her up like this? Gail had never met someone like Holly that had been able to deconstruct her barriers so easily. She was glad that she had been able to show Holly that she really was grateful to her. It had been one hell of a week, and Holly had been there for her every step of the way. Gail knew she deserved to know that she really did notice.

Holly couldn't help herself. The thought of Gail making this step for her was too much. Even if this was just a friendly gesture Holly couldn't stop the butterflies in her stomach. She took a step towards Gail, and then another. They were so close their toes were almost touching. Gail's smile dropped off her face. Scared she was frightening the woman Holly looked down and began to step back. That's when she felt a hand on the side of her face. It was soft and gentle. She looked back up and noticed something she had missed when Gail's smile had initially vanished. She saw that Gail was serious, but that wasn't the only thing, there was something else in those eyes. The butterflies in her stomach intensified as she realized what she saw. Desire.

Holly moved in closer to Gail until their lips were millimeters away. She felt Gail's hands find their way to her hips. Holly placed one hand on the small of the blonde's back and pressed their bodies together. Her other hand found Gail's shoulder moved up onto the back of her neck. Holly felt as if she were having an out of body experience. She couldn't stop the motions; it was as if someone else was controlling her. She knew where her hands were on Gail and realized the hand behind Gail's neck was pulling Gail in closer. And then their lips touched.

The kiss was nothing like any of the previous. It was tender and soft. There was no urgency about it. In fact she felt like it went on for hours. Holly felt herself part her lips and found Gail's tongue reaching for her own. The kiss lasted a seemingly endless amount of time. Their tongues danced gracefully around each other, not able to stop, always wanting more. Gail finally pulled her head back slightly and Holly opened her eyes. She could see Gail's lips quivering and wanted to kiss them again to stop the motion. She then noticed Gail's eyes were still closed.

"Gail?" Holly whispered.

Gail's eyes opened slowly and found Holly's. Gail could feel her heart pounding. It wasn't like they hadn't shared a kiss before. Holly had kissed her in the coatroom at the wedding but that was innocent. The kiss in the interrogation room wasn't though. Was it? No. Gail had told herself at the time it was, to calm Holly down, get her to stop blundering on. But she knew deep down she wanted that kiss for other reasons. Then there were the couple kisses she had placed on Holly's lips in the apartment. But those were small, nothing like this. She couldn't help but think about how different this time had been. She felt so drawn to Holly, so happy standing here with her. She knew she was still incredibly nervous, even a little scared but still she mostly felt happy.

"Yes." Gail finally replied.

"Are you ok?" Holly's tone was hesitant, as if the question itself would break Gail from whatever trance she was in.

Gail couldn't respond. She knew even if she said she was okay Holly probably wouldn't believe her completely. So she did something she knew Holly would grasp. She leaned back in and placed her lips on Holly's. It was a small kiss but it said enough.

They stood there for another moment before finally relinquishing each other's embrace and quietly made their way back towards the elevator. It wasn't an awkward silence, it was a comfortable one. They reached the elevator and Gail took Holly's hand in her own, knowing the brunette's fear and led her inside.


	7. Chapter 7

The rest of the evening had been nice. Gail's curiosity got the best of her and she found herself digging through Holly's bookcases. She kept asking questions about the articles and Holly had decided to give Gail a crash course in forensic pathology. She knew Gail was more intelligent than she let on, but she was surprised how quickly Gail was picking everything up. This woman never ceased to astound her. They had read through scientific journals and textbooks most of the evening before Gail announced randomly she was hungry.

"Well I can make us something if you want. What are you in the mood for?"

As much of the thought of Holly cooking for her again made Gail smile she thought the least she could do is get dinner tonight. "Well I probably owe you some food by now, seeing as how you have always handled it. I'm not much of a cook so how does ordering Thai sound?"

Holly smiled. "Chicken curry sounds perfect!"

"Okay, well you are starting to smell so go shower and I'll order the food." Gail shot over.

"How subtle of you." Holly laughed while walking toward her bedroom. "I think I might actually take a bath, relax a bit. Let me know when the food gets here."

Holly closed the door and walked into the bathroom. She ran the water and undressed as the tub filled. She really just needed a few moments to herself to clear her head. She put her phone on the counter and turned some music on and climbed into the tub. The hot water soothed her mind more than her body. This was exactly what she needed. She let herself lay back and close her eyes.

Gail found a delivery menu for a Thai place in the drawer by the fridge. She called the order in and then found herself looking around the apartment. Holly was taking a bath and apparently planned on being in there until the food arrived. "Perfect." Gail muttered quietly. This gave her some time to put her police training to work and do a little snooping.

She took a close look at the movies by the TV and noticed something weird about them. Holly was obviously a pretty classy broad with her big brain and old classic films. Therefore Gail was pretty shocked to find exactly what her collection held. Of course there were about a dozen of those black and white films they had watched earlier, along with twice as many cases with hand written titles: all documentaries. None of this surprised her, but what did are the cheesy horror movies that took up about a third of her collection. "Really, Holly…'Night of the Werewolf Hunt'?" She hadn't even heard of half of these and she considered herself quite the expert in the genre. For some reason this made Gail even gladder she had stumbled upon this woman. The rest of her collection was a mix of action, sci-fi, and comedies so Gail moved on."

She found herself sneaking into Holly's bedroom and looking at her desk. It was gorgeous. Gail hadn't noticed it much last night but it appeared to be hand carved as well. No doubt a work of Holly's just like the headboard. She opened the top drawer and found a couple articles, all written by Holly. There were pens and note pads, a calculator and a few knickknacks. Nothing really that interesting. She moved on to the next drawer. Chocolate. About two pounds worth, she estimated. For someone so healthy and fit it took Gail by surprise. Guess Holly had a sweet tooth when working. She made a mental note of it. There were a few other things in the drawer. A tape recorder, probably for autopsy reports, a stress ball, and a few more pens. Gail shut the drawer and moved to the last one. It was more of a file cabinet really. The majority of the paperwork in there appeared to be work related or what she assumed was research for the countless articles Holly wrote. She was about to close the drawer when she noticed something at the very back.

"What could this be?" Gail whispered to herself. It was a leather portfolio. She unzipped the side and opened it up on the desk. Holly was a nerd, this much she knew, but Holly also appeared to be extremely modest. Gail found herself taken aback by what was in there. She knew Holly had to have two degrees for her job, one in pathology and a medical degree, but Holly had outdone herself. Inside the first pocket were 4 certificates. Two for the degrees Gail figured she had. One of the other two was something sciency of course but what shocked Gail was the fourth certificate. It seemed at some point Holly had gone to some sort of film school. Gail's mind shot back to the DVDs and wondered if the documentaries were something Holly had directed or at least worked on.

There was a knock on the door. It startled Gail and she realized Holly must have heard it too. She would be getting out of the bath now. Gail clumsily put all the documents back in the portfolio and placed it back in the desk. Another set of knocks came and Gail rushed to the door opening it hastily.

She grabbed the food from the delivery driver and shoved some cash in his face and shut the door without a word.

"Holly the food is here. Hurry up or I am going to eat it all!" Gail shouted back towards the bedroom. Holly appeared behind her almost immediately.

"You really didn't need to shout you know. I was right behind you."


	8. Chapter 8

_**First things first, chapter 7 was put up yesterday, don't want anyone to miss it. Secondly, big thanks to everyone for all of the support and reviews. I can't thank you all enough :) Now on with the show!**_

* * *

"Sorry, I didn't mean to crush you." Is all she managed before scooting a little off Holly. Gail heard nothing in returned and glanced over. Holly was holding her palm on her stomach in silent fits of laughter. Gail grabbed the pillow from the other side of the couch and smacked Holly in the back of the head.

"You know for someone who claims to love horror films, and is a cop, you sure are jumpy." Holly finally managed after most of her laughter subsided. Gail shot her a glare. "Oh don't give me that look." A whole new set of laughs escaped Holly's lips.

Gail's glare continued "Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Shut it nerd. You are ruining the movie with your laughter."

At this Holly lost it and burst out laughing. Gail just smacked her on the shoulder before giving into defeat and placing her hand on Holly's thigh.

They watched the rest of the movie without any additional scares or fits of laughter. Gail's hand never left Holly's thigh, and at some point Holly's hand had found its way on top of Gail's. When the movie finished both women remained in their blanket cocoon for a few minutes before Gail got up and turned the TV off.

They were now in complete darkness. Gail stumbled around the coffee table and found Holly waiting for her. She took Holly's hand in her own and led her to the bedroom. Gail closed the door and turned on the bedside lamp. The shade on the lamp was a deep purple and it filled the room with a very subtle light. Holly could tell Gail was nervous so she offered a lifeline to the woman.

"I didn't forget about the no-spooning rule, don't worry." Holly took a seat on the side of the bed she had slept on last night. Gail mirrored her actions on her own side and turned towards Holly. Holly stayed facing away placing her glasses on the nightstand.

"It wasn't really so much a rule." Gail whispered. She hadn't meant for it to be so quiet, but it just kind of got stuck in her throat a bit. She cleared her throat and continued. "I mean, it wasn't _terrible_ last night or anything." As if that was enough to explain she stood back up and went into the bathroom to get ready to go to sleep. Holly got up from the bed and changed into her PJs.

* * *

Gail came out of the bathroom and walked over to Holly's dresser. "Do you mind?" she asked pointing to it.

"I thought you got all of your stuff from your apartment?" It wasn't an accusatory sentence but she noticed Gail's eye falter a bit. "I don't mind at all I just had figured you had brought your own. You know, more comfortable or something."

"I like yours." It was all Gail offered in explanation as she opened the top drawer and pulled out some pajama pants and a t-shirt. She couldn't help but notice it also contained Holly's bras and underwear. The drawer was mostly filled with gorgeous matching sets, a lot of lacy sets to be specific. Gail cleared her throat as she found herself momentarily caught up on what Holly would look like in one of them. Holly noticed the look on Gail's face as she passed her on the way to the bathroom. It took all of her not to let her smile push past her lips.

A few minutes passed before she walked out of the bathroom and saw that Gail had climbed into bed and was under the covers. She then noticed her bra sitting beside the nightstand. Holly always slept without a bra but had kept hers on the previous night since Gail had shared her bed. Gail caught her glance and followed it to her recently removed clothing. She looked back to Holly apologetically and made a grab for it.

"It's fine, no big deal. I just didn't know if you were comfortable with it." Holly said unclasping her own bra. She pulled it out from under her t-shirt and tossed it by her dresser. It didn't escape Gail that it was in fact lacy. Gail couldn't help but think that the other part of Holly's set of underwear must match. She immediately felt hot and knew she must be blushing.

Holly climbed in bed next to Gail and leaned into her for a quick kiss. Gail knew it was meant to be a light friendly kiss goodnight but couldn't separate her mind from the bra on the floor, and where its matching counterpart would be. Gail went to turn the lamp off and clicked it once. The light didn't turn off but instead just turned to a lower hue. The ambiance in the room changed with it and Gail glanced towards Holly. She was a beautiful woman and this light did everything to enhance her features. Gail could feel her heart beating faster and her palms started to get damp. She leaned towards Holly and placed a kiss on her lips in return.

"Good night kisses are my thing. I'm supposed to give them to you." She didn't move away from Holly though. She remained hovering slightly above her. Holly slid her left hand up to the side of Gail's neck and let her thumb run across it. Gail shuddered involuntarily. Holly couldn't help but notice it. She pulled Gail closer to her for another kiss.

"Well maybe I want to give you the goodnight kiss tonight."

Gail leaned even farther over so that she had to place her other hand across Holly and onto the bed to steady herself. "Well nerd, I got here first so I think it's my thing."

Holly pulled her other arm from between them and slid it between Gail's ribs and the bed. Her hand found Gail's back. "If I remember correctly Officer Peck, I was actually the first one to kiss you so I think I should get to choose." With that Holly used the hand on her back to pull Gail above her completely.

Gail was now using both arms to keep herself above Holly. Her right leg had found its way between Holly's and she lowered herself slowly down onto her. Holly was shaking slightly. Gail couldn't tell if it was because it was a bit cold in the bedroom or if she was nervous. She pulled the blanket up to her shoulders and lay completely upon Holly. She put a small kiss to Holly's check and then moved her lips down to her neck. Holly released a soft moan, she couldn't help herself. Gail's lips felt so nice against her skin. She slid the hand on Gail's back down to the hem of her t-shirt. She paused momentarily before allowing her fingers to run up Gail's bare back. It was Gail's turn to utter a soft moan.

Holly had turned off the lamp between kisses and they had continued in the dark. Holly had rolled over on top of Gail, hand still on her neck. Their lips had moved from tender and soft to hungry and passionate the longer they were touching. Gail's hands had made their way to Holly's hips. She raised the leg between Holly's up so her knee was bent while placing pressure on Holly's hips to bring her down onto her thigh. Holly broke the kiss immediately and inhaled sharply. It was dark but Gail could see that Holly had rolled her eyes back. Once she had regained her composure Holly lowered her lips back down to Gail and ran her tongue across her ear. Shivers shot down her spine at the feel of Holly's mouth on her. Gail had been running her thumb across Holly's hip bones and now slid her hands up Holly's shirt along her ribcage. She stopped when she felt the bottom of Holly's bare breast touch her hand.

Gail paused and looked at Holly. She wasn't scared to take this step with Holly but she didn't want to embarrass herself. Holly sensed her hesitation and looked into Gail's eyes. She knew Gail was nervous so she made the next move for her. She brought her upper body off Gail and removed her t-shirt. Gail drew in a breath at the sight before her. Holly was indeed a work of art. She could see in the moonlight each curve of her. Her shoulders, her collarbone, stomach, ribs, and her breasts were flawless. They were absolutely perfect. Gail had always thought women were attractive, but she had never felt this intense attraction to a woman before. She reached up for Holly.

Holly met her hand with her own and placed Gail's fingers on her sternum. She didn't want to presume how far Gail was ready to go but she wanted her to know that it was okay. Gail let her fingers fall to Holly's right breast. She could feel her warmth and knew she wanted more. She let her fingers explore Holly's torso. She let herself be overcome with her desire and allowed her fingers to roam free over every inch of this gorgeous woman. After a couple minutes she realized she had not taken her eyes off of Holly's body and looked up. Holly was looking into her eyes. She knew Holly was ready for so much more.

Holly watched as Gail removed her hands from her and moved down to her own t-shirt. She sat up slightly and pulled it over her head and let it fall to the floor. Holly stopped breathing. She knew how big a step this was for Gail and it warmed her heart. Gail took Holly's hand and placed her middle finger on her lips. Holly let Gail place it in her mouth and felt Gail's tongue glide across it, sucking on her finger. Holly realized that she had let her mouth fall and she should probably close it. She had been with enough women and even a few men in her time to have some killer sex, but this moment right here made those crumble in comparison. She felt Gail move her hand down and place it on Gail's breast, immediately feeling herself become exponentially more turned on. Gail removed her hand from Holly's, and Holly let herself explore Gail's body in return. She leaned down and kissed Gail passionately. It wasn't long before she realized her fingers had found their way to top of Gail's pajama pants. After a minute she removed her lips from the beautiful blonde under her.

"If we don't stop now I don't think I will be able to." Holly whispered.

Gail didn't want to stop at all but she knew that tonight had been a lot of big steps and they should probably stop before they took it any further. She pulled Holly on top of her and kissed her hard before rolling over on top of her.

"Holly, your body is mesmerizing. But I know you are right; if we don't stop now we won't stop at all. But promise me that if we stop that you won't put any more clothes on tonight. At least let me sleep with you next to me like this." It was enough to let Holly know that Gail knew they should stop, but also that she wanted more of Holly. That she needed more of her.

"Only if you promise too." Holly whispered back. Gail smiled and lay back on the bed next to Holly. She rolled over and placed her arm around her waist and her head on Holly's shoulder. It didn't take long for either of them to fall asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**_Let the hate mail commence!_**

* * *

Holly woke up the next morning freezing cold. She opened her eyes slowly and noticed her bed was empty. Gail must have gone to start on some coffee. She rolled out of bed and threw on the t-shirt from last night. She took a few steps from the bed and realized that Gail's bag was gone. She walked out into the living room with no sign of Gail. Maybe she had been called into the station after all. She looked for a note and after not finding one she went to her phone. No text, no voicemail. Holly sat down at the breakfast bar and sighed.

* * *

"Peck, what the hell are you doing here?"

Gail turned around and saw Tracy walking down the hallway towards her.

"Nice to see you too Tracy. Don't you make a woman feel wanted?" Gail said in her most bitter of tones. It had been a weird morning and Gail was in no mood to explain anything. "I just needed to get this statement done so I stopped by. I know you probably forgot what it was like doing real police work by now."

Tracy shot Gail a glance and sat down on the corner of her desk. "Gail cut the shit, why are you really here?"

"Some people have actual work to do, try it." With that Gail got up and went to find herself something to eat. She knew Tracy was her friend and was just concerned but she couldn't deal with any of this right now. She knew that Steve had to have worked it out in his head after Gail had introduced him and Chris to Holly the other night. That meant by now Steve had probably talked to Tracy, which in turn meant Tracy probably knew at least some of what was between Holly and herself. Even with that Gail still wasn't ready to discuss this relationship or whatever the hell it is with anyone.

She found herself in the locker room starring into her open locker. She knew should have let Holly know she was leaving but she had panicked. Here she was a cat again, climbing up a tree. Why had she even made up that stupid metaphor in the first place? Gail hated cats. Holly had been a lot of things to Gail but she wasn't sure that she could be what Holly needed. Gail knew she screwed up relationships. She knew if given the chance she would screw up whatever this was too. Holly deserved better. Gail couldn't help get mad that she felt guilty. She had warned Holly after all the very first day they met that she was this tree climbing, emergency creating cat thing. With that Gail slammed her locker shut and walked out.

* * *

It was afternoon already and Holly still hadn't heard from Gail. She was stuck in debate on letting Gail figure this out with space and calling her up to check on her. It had been a crazy week and Holly knew Gail still needed a friend. Had she pushed it too far last night? Had she let herself get into this mess thinking Gail wanted to be more than her friend when she didn't? Maybe this was all just a panicked response to the stress Gail was under. Maybe Gail didn't like Holly at all. She felt like an idiot.

"This is why you don't pursue straight women dumbass." Holly muttered to herself. Determined to stop being an idiot Holly decided to go about her day and push her feelings aside for now. She really needed to do some errands after all. After a quick shower Holly finished getting dressed and went back into the bathroom to brush her teeth. That's when she spotted Gail's stupid pink toothbrush sitting by the sink. Crap. Why did she have to leave this here? She had just pushed herself to move past this morning's freak out and get some work done. Now as she looked at the toothbrush on her counter she couldn't help herself.

* * *

Gail felt her phone buzz. She normally wouldn't bother checking the message but with seemingly half of 15 in the hospital she brought herself into a sitting position and pulled it out of her back pocket. She swung her feet off the couch and unlocked the phone. The text was from Holly.

'Hey. You left your toothbrush here. '

"Fuck." Gail said a little louder that she had meant. How had she forgotten about that this morning? She was sure this was really Holly trying to break the ice about her vanishing act.

'Oh. Well I have others so just toss that.'

* * *

Holly looked back at her phone. This was really the response Gail was giving her? Nothing about her leaving of course. Holly hadn't expected that much. She was surprised at the apparent attempt Gail was making to avoid having to meet with Holly again to get it back. She could have just told her she didn't need it, instead she told her to throw it away. It was obvious she had no intention of needing a toothbrush at Holly's again.

'Ok. Well I guess I will see you at work tomorrow then."

* * *

Gail didn't even bother responding. She knew she was going to have to face Holly sooner or later but tonight she had the apartment to herself and a stocked liquor cabinet. She turned on the TV, something terribly trashy and wandering into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and pulled out a box of pizza '_Gail, don't eat this'_ was written on the top.

"Whatever." She muttered as she took the last two pieces out and left the box on the counter. She grabbed a mostly full bottle of tequila from the cabinet and plopped herself down on the couch.

Gail woke up the next morning with a throbbing hangover. What little had been left in her bottle of tequila had spilled out on the floor at some point. The bottle now on its side was dangerously close to falling off the coffee table. Gail sat up and pushed her fingers into her temples. It was going to be a long day.

She passed Chris on her way into the station and he briefly heard her mumble something about pizza and not stepping in puke before she grabbed the coffee cup from his hand and walked inside. It was annoyingly bright and the noise was doing nothing to help her head. She stumbled slightly towards the locker room.

"Rough night then?"

Gail turned and saw Tracy sitting on the bench in front of her locker.

"No, I just had the realization that you were dating my brother and it's made me a little sick." Tracy laughed at Gail's comment, admitting defeat and walked out of the locker room.

"Nice of you to show up Peck." Gail was almost five minutes late for parade. She was still putting her hair up as she walked in. She took a spot on the wall and mostly listened to this morning's rundown. "Serve, protect, and traffic stops."

A collective "Ughh..." sounded through the room. This was going to be a long day.

"Um…Gail?" Gail glanced to her right and saw Nick standing next to her. She didn't even bother responding. After a very awkward minute Nick started again. "Looks like we are riding together today."

Correction this was going to be a very long day.

Gail made Nick drive and sat glaring out the window as they left the station. They took their place under an overpass and set up the radar. "So, do you wan..."

Gail cut him off immediately. "Shut it Collins." She grabbed the radar gun from his grip and stepped out of the car. Nick got the hint and backed off. Luckily he stayed that way most of the day.

It was a fairly uneventful day. Routine stops, nothing exciting. Just as Gail wanted it to be with how she felt this morning. Nick had played nice and left Gail alone only speaking up when absolutely necessary. They had driven back to the station and parted ways and Gail once again found herself in the locker room staring at her locker.

Tracy came in and Gail knew now that there is no way Tracy kept bumping into her accidentally.

"Fine Tracy you win. Give me 10 minutes to change and then meet me out front. You can buy me drinks at The Penny." Tracy nodded her head and left Gail to finish up.


	10. Chapter 10

Gail sat across from Tracy pounding down what was at least her fourth glass of water in 15 minutes. Tracy eyed her nervously taking a quick sip from her bottle of beer. "Gail. Is this about Holly?"

And here it was. She knew it was bound to come out of her mouth eventually. She sighed and looked at Tracy.

"What makes you think it has anything to do with her?" Gail snapped back.

Tracy ignored her tone. "Well that is the second time she has called you since we have been here and you have yet to pick up. Plus I talked to Steve." Gail pondered how much she should say. Tracy could tell she needed a moment and let her think.

Just as Gail had decided on telling her it was fine she found herself blurting out "We almost slept together."

Tracy already knew from Steve that there was something, but she was still taken aback to hear those words come blundering out of Gail's mouth. Apparently Gail was surprised she had said it too based on the look on her face at the moment.

"What do you mean you almost slept together?"

Gail knew it was too late to go back and sighed. "Night before last. I was at her place and we, I don't know, we just almost…did…things."

"Okay, well that clears that up."

"I had been staying with her since the shooting and we just sort of started…things…and then they kept going and before I knew it we had no shirts on and…"

Tracy put a hand up stopping Gail. "Okay, that is enough information. So you didn't actually have sex with her then?"

"No!" Gail still wasn't looking at Tracy. Something about her glass of water had captured her attention.

"Okay… so what happened? Did you get into a fight?" Tracy signaled the bartender for another beer. This was going to be a longer conversation that she had anticipated.

Gail finally looked up. "No fight. We just went to sleep and then I woke up yesterday and I just left. I realized where I was and I left and that's when I came into the station and saw you. And then Holly text me about toothbrushes and now she keeps calling. I don't know what to do." Gail folded her arms on the top of the table and pushed her forehead into them.

"Well did you tell her you were leaving or did you just leave?" Tracy asked.

Gail glanced up looking guilty. "Holly is probably worried about you Gail! She is concerned for her friend, who just got shot at, who has friends in the hospital, whose partner was kidnapped, and who now has disappeared from her life suddenly. She probably thinks she messed up and is just worried about you is all."

Gail knew Tracy was making sense. She really should talk to Holly. Holly at least deserved an explanation as to why Gail couldn't talk to her if that made any sense at all. "What do I even say to her? I've been a bit of a bitch you know."

"Bitch to who?" Both women looked up to see Oliver standing by their table.

"Oliver!" Gail shouted, immediately regretting her loudness. She stood from her seat and gave him a hug. Oliver smiled back at the rare sincerity from Gail and took a seat next to Tracy.

"How are you feeling?" Tracy asked smiling.

"I'm doing great actually. Had to get out of the house though. Celery kept making me drink these weird concoctions to help me get better. I'm not unconvinced that I might turn into a newt any minute." Oliver laughed at his own remark. Everyone still found it a little weird that he was dating a witch but the smile on his face was enough for them all to know she really made him happy. The thought of Oliver sitting on a couch while his girlfriend stirred a cauldron made Gail giggle. She really liked Oliver, he was her favorite person to partner with at work, and he had almost become a father figure to her.

Oliver turned his attention to them. "So what did I interrupt then? Is this about Holly?"

"Seriously! Does everybody know about this?" Gail glared at them both.

"Well it was only a little obvious when you both came out of that dark interrogation room the other day." Well that answered the question about if Oliver was referring to Holly or not during his fatherly speech in the car that afternoon.

"Uggh." Gail's head was back on her arms.


	11. Chapter 11

**_Okay, first and foremost thank you to all of you awesome people for your reviews. Also I just posted chapter 10 so don't miss that one. I just couldn't help myself and put two chapters up today. :)_**

* * *

She got up from her desk and started her journey. She had too much work to do and she found herself making her daily mental to-do list as she walked down stairs. She stopped by ballistics and picked up a copy of the report she needed and was reading through it when she walked into the lab.

"Dr. Stewart?"

She looked up to find Gail sitting on a stool next to the table. Holly wasn't expecting to find Gail in her lab at all. She stopped in her tracks. The two stared awkwardly at each other before Holly responded.

"Officer Peck. What can I do for you?" There was no friendliness in her voice. Gail could tell Holly was all business. Gail hadn't asked to come down here. Frank had ordered her, not without any resistance either. It still stung to hear Holly's tone though.

"Uh, yeah Sgt. Best wanted me to pick up that report from Tuesday. It's urgent." Holly walked over to the computer and clicked loudly on the keys for a minute. Gail heard the printer behind her spit out the report.

"Anything else I can get for you Officer?" Holly was still looking at the computer. She was definitely mad. Gail had never seen her mad before, and she wasn't sure if she should say anything to the woman.

She grabbed the papers off the printer and started towards the door. Before she made it out she stopped and turned back towards Holly.

"Holly…look I know I owe you an explanation and all…"

Holly turned towards Gail and interrupted her. "You should probably get that back to the station, with it being urgent and all." With that she turned back to her computer and Gail knew that was her cue to leave.

As soon as Gail had left the lab Holly turned towards the autopsy table. Why had she been so short with Gail? She had just been up in her office 15 minutes ago willing Gail to text her. Even if it wasn't Gail who offered to go see Holly she was obviously going to attempt to make a step forward while she was here. Holly had too much to do and decided that now was not the time to think about this. She got off her chair and placed a pair of gloves over her hands before digging into her work.

It was almost midnight when Holly's phone rang. She was just now putting her files back in her office desk. It had been a long day and night playing catch up and she was ready to go home. She reluctantly pulled the phone from her pocket and saw that Gail was calling. She had told herself she wouldn't speak to Gail for a while. It was apparent Gail had needed some space and she had convinced herself she too needed some. The phone continued to ring but Holly was staring at the picture that had popped up. It was Gail in a helmet, looking way too embarrassed. Holly had snapped the photo the night they went to the batting cages and put it under Gail's contact on her phone. Holly's determination broke and she answered the phone.

"What is it Gail, I am exhausted and I'm ready to go home."

There was a pause. "Uh…I'm sorry Holly; I shouldn't have called so late. I will let you go. Goodnight."

"Well you already have me on the phone so just say what you need and hurry up." Gail wasn't used to hearing Holly in this tone. Holly had always been able to throw snark right back at her, but this was different. It was intentionally cold, and not in a joking way. Gail realized she had paused again and quickly continued on in fear of Holly hanging up on her. "Holly I'm really sorry I left the other day. I know that wasn't fair to you and I owe you a lot more than that. I just kind of panicked and didn't know what to say. I was embarrassed I left like that and I didn't know how to talk to you. I don't want to be a cat thing anymore."

Holly knew this must be hard for Gail to admit. Part of her was still really pissed though. She didn't want to let Gail off the hook so easily. "Gail, no one is forcing you to be a cat. Maybe you need to figure out what you want before you make any promises."

Holly hung up the phone. She placed her hand on her desk and sighed. After a minute she stood up straight, grabbed her things and left her office. It had been a long, long day and she really couldn't afford to let herself make any decision regarding Gail in this state of mind.


	12. Chapter 12

**_More as requested annabanana6 :D _**

**_Also should have chapter 13 up sometime Friday._**

* * *

"_Gail, no one is forcing you to be a cat. Maybe you need to figure out what you want before you make any promises." _

Gail heard the connection end and realized Holly had hung up. She placed her phone down on the table and looked up at the ceiling. She had been lying on the couch for an hour debating on whether or not she should call Holly. She still wasn't sure if she had made the right decision or not. It was hard to tell if she had upset Holly more by calling.

Realizing defeat she forced herself off the couch and went into the kitchen to join Chris. "Well…what did she say?"

Gail snapped her head towards Chris with lightning speed. "Excuse you?"

"What Gail? It's not like I haven't had this figured out for a while. Do you not remember me trying to get you to call her before we left to find Oliver?" Gail had conveniently let herself forget that along with the introduction she offered at the hospital. It was becoming clear to Gail that everyone knew.

Gail grabbed a chair and sat down across from Chris. It had been just the two of them in the apartment the last few days. Dov had only come by twice to shower and get clothes. He was determined to live at the hospital until Chloe woke up. She and Chris had spent their nights eating take out and playing video games. This was the first night that Chris had really said much of anything to Gail though.

"Look Gail, I know you think you are this ice queen that can't bother to let anyone past her walls, but there is a lot more to you than you let on. When we were together I saw a whole different side of you. I can see that side of you when you spend time with Holly. Actually it is a different side than that even, it's much better. She makes you happy and she obviously cares about you too. So just fix whatever is going on and get past your insecurities. She is too good for you to let go of."

Holly was an amazing woman Gail knew that much without a doubt. And she had to admit that Chris was right, she brought the best out of Gail. She brought out a side of her she didn't even know she had. But she also knew that Holly deserved someone who would be there for her like Holly had been there for Gail. She gave a small smile to Chris before getting up and going to her bedroom.

Gail sat down on her bed and set her alarm for the following morning. She had an early start and she was going to be stuck patrolling with McNally all day. She tried to clear her head and lay down ready for sleep. She rolled back and forth for an hour still caught up on what to do about Holly. She finally realized that Holly deserved more that she had to offer. She knew that she only deserved the best. Gail had no place taking up that spot in Holly's heart as she was right now. She knew she couldn't continue on with Holly without her heart ready for a real commitment. Gail knew what she had to do. She settled into a comfortable position and fell asleep.

* * *

Holly didn't call or text Gail the next day. In fact Holly didn't call or text her for the rest of the week, and Gail had done neither herself. Holly figured that Gail had come to terms with whatever it was that was going on and had settled on removing Holly from her life. Holly was crushed to be losing Gail but she figured it was what Gail must need. She had focused on her work with more intensity than usual, trying to rid her mind of Gail. It was this reason that she found herself caught up on everything by 11am Friday morning. She had sent out a few last minute emails and gathered her things and headed home.

She spent her car ride back to her apartment thinking of spending the weekend curled up with a good book. The weather was supposed to turn into a snowstorm later tonight or early tomorrow so a book and a fire sounded cathartic, just what she needed after this week. She swung by the store on her way and picked up some wine and a few groceries.

Holly dragged her bags up the stairs of her apartment building and opened her front door. She placed the groceries on the kitchen counter and went back to close her door. She noticed an envelope on the floor and picked it up. It had appeared that someone had slid in under her front door while she was at work. There was no writing on the front. Holly closed the front door and walked over to the kitchen table. She placed the envelope down and placed the items from the store in their respective locations.

She opened up the bottle of wine she had bought and grabbed a glass from the rack above her stove and poured herself a drink. She made her way back toward the table and took a seat. She mulled the letter over in her head before opening it. Holly liked puzzles and tried to figure out who it could be from. When she couldn't decide she gave in and opened the envelope. It was a card. The front was blank with the exception of her name handwritten in purple ink. Holly recognized the handwriting immediately.

**_Holly,_**

**_I know there is not much I can really say that can make up for the way I have acted towards you. I know my apologies can't replace the damage I have done. You are an amazing woman and I know you only deserve the best. You deserve better than me. I have been thinking very heavily for the past few days about this. I knew that it would not be fair to you to continue on how we were if I could not be the person you deserve. Therefore I gave myself an ultimatum. Either I break it off now and spare you the more eminent damage I could do or I can force myself to come to terms with my own issues and commit to being the person you deserve. I know I don't have any right to tell you all of this and I don't have a right to ask anything of you. I was just hoping that we could talk. I know what I need to do now and I need to do it in person. Please meet with me tonight and the building I took you to. It's the only place I know we can talk alone that is neutral ground. I will wait for you until midnight. If you don't come by then I will take that as you are not interested in us meeting and I will leave you be. Either way you decide I will understand. Just know that I never stopped being thankful of you Holly. Just know I never can forget all you have done for me._**

**_Gail_**

Holly put the card down on the table. She picked up her wine glass and downed the remainder of it in one shot. Holly left the card on the table and headed into her bedroom. She decided to work on an article she had started to help clear the letter out of her mind.

* * *

By 9 o'clock she hadn't gotten very far and she noticed she had been rereading the same sentence for 10 minutes. Realizing she wasn't going to get much more done tonight she settled her mind on a walk. She grabbed her coat and headed out the door.

Holly stopped by a deli a block from her apartment and grabbed a quick dinner. She knew everyone that worked there and was glad to see a few smiling faces after her tough day. She said her goodbyes after the meal and headed towards the door. She decided she was going to walk over to one of her old stomping grounds and just enjoy being outside for a bit.

The fresh air was crisp. A light snowfall had started about eight and after checking the weather then she knew it wouldn't pick up until around three in the morning. She had always loved the snow; it calmed her nerves and reminded her of holidays spent at her grandparents as a child. She has spent countless times at her grandparents' cabin, sledding with her grandfather and baking with her grandmother. They were cherished memories and every time she visited the cabin she was filled with reminders of their visits. They had both passed a few years back and left the cabin to her. She tried to make it up in the winter at least a few weekends each year. She felt it kept their spirit alive in her. She smiled to herself as she walked in the snow. Maybe next weekend if she wasn't swamped she would take herself up to the cabin.

It was almost 11 when she realized where her walk had taken her. She hadn't intended to come here, yet here she was. She zipped up her coat a little further against the icy breeze. The tall, unfinished building she had visited with Gail the day after the shooting stood before her. Holly was tempted to turn and leave but she figured there was a reason her subconscious had brought her here. She was sure Gail had invited her here to officially end things, whatever it was, between them. The letter was pretty clear that Gail didn't think she was in a place where she was ready to commit to or even accept a relationship with Holly. Gail was just trying to do the right thing and end this in person.

Holly didn't really think she could handle looking into Gail's eyes for that speech. It would break her. But part of her knew if she were to move past this whole thing she needed to hear it from Gail. So with that, Holly found herself once again in that freaky elevator that scared the living shit out of her. Gail had obviously forgotten how terrified Holly was of it or she wouldn't have asked her to meet her here.


	13. Chapter 13

Gail looked at her phone. It was a quarter after 11. She knew that if Holly hadn't come by now she wasn't going to come. Part of her held on to the hopes that she might still show up and because of that and her promise to stay until midnight, Gail stayed. She was beyond nervous. Never in her life had she been in the situation she was now. She knew that most likely Holly didn't want to hear it, but it needed to be said. She was starting to work herself up into what would end up being her second panic attack of the night when she heard the ding of the elevator.

She turned just in time to see Holly stop in her tracks.

* * *

This was not at all what Holly had expected to see. Not even a little bit close. Holly could barely manage to speak. "Gail?"

Gail was standing before her in a beautiful dark blue dress and heals. Her hair had been curled and was flowing down her shoulders. She had never looked more scared. Holly couldn't help but notice Gail's nerves. Although she appeared almost frozen in place, Gail had been turning something over in her hand non stop. Holly couldn't quite make out what it was though and turned her attention to their surroundings. There was a long extension cord running along the concrete walls. A couple of space heaters had been plugged in and it was really quite comfortable up here despite the temperature outside. There were more wires coming from the extension cord, these ones belonged to the white Christmas lights that had been strung up from the beams above them. A single table and two chairs had been placed by the open wall. The table was covered with a white tablecloth, two glasses and a bottle of wine sat revealed in a bucket of ice. Gail had apparently been very determined to make a statement.

They both still stood frozen. After another silent moment Gail chanced a step toward Holly. "Hey. I'm really glad you came." A cautious smile appeared on Gail's lips. Seeing as how Holly had yet to run away Gail decided to be brave. She slowly walked up to Holly and grabbed her hand. She led Holly over towards the table so Holly could look out at the view and let her hand go. Gail turned towards Holly and noticed Holly was still in shock.

Gail began to speak. It wasn't quite the speech she had prepared but it was close enough. "Holly, I know that I have been a pretty terrible person many times in my life. Well maybe not a terrible person, but I've made some terrible decisions. It always felt justified, to keep myself safe. And I have always been okay knowing who I was. Until now. I haven't sleep through the night since the last time I was in your bed. There was something about how right everything felt that night that terrified me in the morning. So when I woke up I did what I always have. I ran. I never wanted to hurt you like that, but I know there is nothing I can ever do to take that pain back. When I saw you in the lab Monday I knew that I had hurt you in a way I had never wanted to, or imagined anyone could. You deserve the absolute best, you deserve so much better than the person I had become. It was for that reason that I decided I had to sit down and evaluation everything. Absolutely everything. I told myself that I couldn't bring myself to continue on with whatever this has become being who I have always been. I couldn't subject you to that person. And so I promised myself I would end that relationship between you and that person for good. But I can't imagine a life without you Holly Stewart. I need you around me. You make me a better person; you bring out the good in me. And for that reason I promised myself something else. I promised myself I would become the person you deserve; I would be someone you could always rely on, someone who won't look away from you regardless how you want to progress. I will not run away. I will not fight this anymore. I will be someone you can be proud of. So yes, I want to end the relationship between you and that old me, so that you can be with the new me. So here I am. I am here for you; I will always be here for you whether you choose to leave, to be my friend, or to stay my girlfriend. "

Holly had heard every word. She hadn't missed a single one. Her head was still reeling with thoughts. She turned to face Gail and realized that the woman in front of her was crying. She was not ashamed of it, she was not hiding. Holly knew that Gail had never opened up like this to anyone. Ever. Gail had never actually confessed as much, but Holly knew somehow. She knew that this was Gail crumbling her walls and handing Holly her heart.

"Gail….I thought you asked me to meet you here to end things with me...completely."

Gail looked into Holly's eyes and wasn't sure what she saw. Part of her felt so relived to get this all out there. To finally open up to Holly. The rest of her was completely terrified about what Holly was going to do. "Holly, I am most definitely not here to end things with you completely. I never want to see you out of my life; if that means that I only get you as a friend so be it, but I want more than that. Assuming that you are willing to give me a second chance."

"I don't want you to end things either." Holly now had a tear of her own running down her check. "You look beautiful by the way." Holly reached out and took a hold of Gail's empty hand.

Gail smiled. "So do you."

"I have on jeans and a hoodie."

Gail pulled Holly closer to her. She placed a hand under Holly's chin and lifted her face up so that she was looking her in the eyes. "And you have never looked more stunning." With that Gail placed a soft kiss on Holly's mouth and drew herself back to look at her.

"Gail?" Holly had brought her eyes up to meet Gail's finally.

"Yes?"

"Did you call me your girlfriend?"

Gail looked directly into Holly's eyes and squeezed Holly's hand "Yes. I did and I will say it again Holly Stewart. You are my girlfriend." Holly pulled Gail into a hug before whispering a soft 'I know.'

They stayed there together looking out at their city sparkling in the snowfall for a while. Holly could see Gail was exhausted though and after kissing her gently on the forehead she let go of Gail's hand. "So...are you going to tell me what you have in your hand?"

Gail blushed. She had thought it was a perfect idea at the time, but it was pretty cheesy. She was pretty sure she had met her cheesy quota for a decade already, but it was a little too late to hold out now. Sheepishly, Gail held her hand out to Holly and deposited the object in question.

Holly opened her palm up to reveal the contents. The lighting wasn't ideal so it took a moment to figure it out. It was a little tree, a carved tree. Holly's eyes shot up to Gail's. "Did you...did you make this Gail?"

"Yeah, I know it's really weird and all...and I know it's nothing like yours. Actually its kind of really crappy. It looks like a kid made it. Oh god I feel really stupid now." Gail's eyes had been staring intently at the ground through her nervous rambling. Holly pulled Gail's gaze up to her own, forcing Gail to look at her.

"Gail it's not crappy, and you are not stupid. Although I have to admit it is a little weird." Gail slapped playfully at Holly's shoulders but smiled none the less. "But I am curious about it."

Gail took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly. "I was missing you, and I found this really pretty tree on patrol two days ago. A piece of a branch had broken off and I just took it for some reason. When I got home I just kept staring at it, it made me think of you, and my tree analogy. So I took my knife and made a mini tree out of it. It's nothing like what you can do with wood, but it reminded me of all of the stuff you had made, everything in your apartment. It made me feel like you were with me. Kind of gave me the strength to do this."

Holly pulled Gail into an intense kiss. She felt her knees go week, and suddenly it was almost too hot in the building. Holly pulled out of the kiss, but kept her lips lingering for a moment. They took a moment to compose themselves and relinquished their hold. Holly placed a light kiss on Gail's cheek, picked up the bucket from the table, and started towards the elevator. She paused before she reached it. "Are you coming, Gail?"


	14. Chapter 14

**_Okay, hopefully the last chapter wasn't too over the top. I just really wanted to show Gail making an effort to choose to be a better person for Holly. Anyways, thanks to everyone who has stuck around so far and for all of the reviews, now on with the show..._**

* * *

Gail led Holly inside for the second time. This did not appear to be the same apartment she had entered with Gail before. Chris and Dov were nowhere in sight and the place was spotless. Gail placed their bucket down on the coffee table and opened the bottle. Holly hadn't realized she was staring around until Gail had to physically place the glass in her hand.

"What happened?" Holly let it slip out unintentionally. She wasn't intending to insult Gail, but it came out before she had a chance to catch herself.

Gail gave a slight laugh. She knew what Holly had meant and realized how different it really was from her first visit. "I wanted to make sure we had a place to talk if the weather got too bad. I kicked the boys out for the night so we could have some space to ourselves."

Holly had initially thought Gail might have done this so they had the apartment to themselves if things went well, maybe to seal the deal but as she looked at Gail she realized she was being completely honest. Tonight wasn't about moving their relationship forward physically for Gail, it was about moving forward emotionally and Holly could see it in her eyes. "So they know about me then?"

"Of course they do. Chris had us figured out already and I had to tell Dov or he wasn't going to leave. They had to understand how important this was to me. Besides we aren't very sneaky anyways he would have figured it out soon enough. Steve, Chris, Tracy and Oliver already had." Gail didn't sound annoyed like Holly had expected would happen when people caught on. She knew that Gail was a private person. That is why she was so shocked to hear a bit of excitement in Gail's voice when she spoke about her friends' interest in her and Holly. Gail really was growing.

* * *

It wasn't until the sun was blinding Holly through the gap in the curtains that she realized they had been up all night talking. It hadn't taken long to get back to their usual banter and uncontrollable laughter. They should have both been exhausted but somehow it felt as if this past night was energizing. Shortly after they had arrived at Gail's Holly had insisted Gail change into suitable clothes. It wasn't that she wasn't beautiful, because she most certainly was, but she wanted her to be comfortable, and she was a little distracting. Gail now sat across the kitchen table from Holly in pajama pants and a hoodie.

Gail saw Holly squinting from the intrusive sun ray and turned behind her. It had gotten so bright outside. She walked over to the window and looked out. The snow had stopped but there was a fresh blanket covering the street. Gail turned to Holly and raised a finger to signal she would be back in a minute. She came back shortly still dressed in the hoodie, but with jeans and boots on. She had brushed her hair and had gloves on. She walked over to the couch and picked up the boots Holly had discarded there when they had arrived. Holly's boots were set down at her feet and pair of gloves placed on the table in front of her.

"Put these on, we are going for a walk."

Holly gave Gail her adorable sideways smile and did as she was asked. They left the apartment together hand in hand and stepped out into the snow. It was a truly gorgeous morning. The sun had just started to rise. Between it being a weekend and the fresh snow it seemed most of the city was still asleep. Gail led Holly into the small café they had gone that first day after the shooting. They sat down with their coffee and breakfast wraps and sat in comfortable silence. After their breakfast was finished they refilled their cups and headed back out into the crisp morning air.

People were starting to emerge from their warm homes to get the mail, or walk their dogs. They walked to a small park where apart from a couple joggers they were the only ones. They found a bench and sat down taking in the beauty of the morning. "Holly?"

Holly looked towards Gail and noticed she was smiling more than she had seen in a long time. "Yes?"

"I'm glad you gave me another chance. You make me happy. Even if you are super nerdy." Gail's smile only grew as she talked.

"You make me happy too." Holly managed through her laughter.

They sat for a few more minutes before getting up and walking to Gail's apartment again. "Holly, I hate to ask you to leave but I have to swing by the station for an hour. I'm meeting Steve and I promised Chris and Dov that they could come back in the morning. They have the late shift tonight so they will want to sleep. They will probably be here soon. Would it be okay if you came back over this evening?"

Holly could tell Gail was nervous asking her to leave. She was afraid that Holly was going to look into it too much. This wasn't Gail running. This was Gail trying to do better.

"Yeah that is fine. I should probably go clean up anyways. Shoot me over a text when it's safe to come over." She walked over to Gail and gave her a quick hug, and a not so quick kiss before heading towards the door.

"Holly!" She turned around and Gail was holding her keys up. "Are you crazy? I'm not letting you walk all the way home in the snow. I'm giving you a ride." Holly had completely forgotten she walked all the way to this part of town last night. She laughed a bit at herself and saw Gail was laughing too. "I thought you were a smart nerd." With that statement Holly doubled over in laughter. It was really good to have Gail back.


	15. Chapter 15

**_I know this is super short, but I have more updates coming soon! Besides, a little good news never hurt anyone :)_**

* * *

"Well what?" Gail had every intention of telling her brother but she liked to see him work for it.

Steve rolled his eyes. "What do you mean well what? Holly?!"

Gail sighed and gave in. She wasn't even a minute into her explanation before Tracy showed up. "I'm guessing you had nothing to do with this then?" Gail shot to Steve pointing at Tracy.

Steve brushed the comment to the side and Gail continued telling both of them about last night. "Can you two both stop smiling at me like that? It is nauseating." Gail's comment did nothing to hinder them though. She knew they were happy for her, but they were just so…smiley. It was too much mush.

"What is Noelle doing here?" Steve blurted out. He got up and went to go talk to her. After a minute of talking and even more of those over the top smiles they both made their way back to the desk. "Drinks at the Penny tonight. That means you too Gail."

"Steve, I have plans, we can go another night." Gail whined.

"No. We are going tonight. Chloe woke up." Gail and Tracy's heads both shot up.

"Frank and Dov are at the hospital now with her. She is doing great. So everyone is meeting to celebrate tonight." Noelle announced.

Gail was glad to hear the Chloe was ok. She had been getting worried about Dov so this was really great news. She knew she should go and celebrate with everyone tonight, but she had promised Holly she would spend the evening with her. She didn't want to blow her off, especially with how recently they had begun mending their relationship.

It was as if Noelle had read her mind. "Gail you are coming. You aren't getting out of this. And Frank says you have to bring Holly with you."

"Seriously does everybody know?" Gail almost shouted. She looked at Tracy and then at Steve with a piercing stare trying to figure out which one of them it might have been to spill the beans. Both of them held their hands up in defense. Maybe it was Chris; she doubted it and she knew it wouldn't have been Oliver. "Who's the one with the big mouth?" She demanded from Noelle.

"Well it's not like everyone didn't notice how much time you were spending at the lab, plus the night of the shooting she was with you at the hospital, and then Frank might have mentioned something last week about you trying to get out of going to get a report from her. It all just kind of added up. Oh and then Dov may have accidentally mentioned it at the hospital…"

Of course it was Dov. Well the cat was out of the bag so she pulled her phone out of her pocket and sent Holly a message.

**_'Hey change of plans. You are coming with me to The Penny tonight. Chloe woke up so there is a celebration. P.S. everybody knows.'_**

Almost immediately her pocket buzzed.

**_'So you are asking me on a date then Officer?'_**

**_'It would appear that I am.'_**

**_'Well in that case you can pick me up at 8.'_**

Gail smiled and placed her phone back in her pocket. Noelle and Tracy had left and it was just her and her brother again. He was still smiling at her. She smacked him on the shoulder and grabbed the file off his desk. "So can we actually talk about work now? Apparently I have a date tonight so I kinda need to go get ready for it."


	16. Chapter 16

Gail and Holly sat in front of the Penny. Holly had been trying to convince Gail to go inside for 15 minutes. "Holly, I'm so tired, we didn't get any sleep last night; can't we just go?" Gail really did look exhausted but Holly knew that she shouldn't let her get out of this either.

"Come on Gail, two drinks, that's it and then we can leave." Holly didn't wait for a response and got out of the car. Gail gave in and followed Holly to the door. It was unbelievably loud. You could hear the noise from across the street. The irony wasn't lost on Gail of how ridiculous it would be if someone reported the noise level to the police. Holly grabbed Gail by the wrist and dragged her inside.

It was packed. Gail shot Holly a glance that told Holly that Gail was still contemplating her escape. Holly rolled her eyes exaggeratedly towards Gail and dragged the woman towards a familiar face. "Hi Chris, I brought you a present. Be careful though, I think it bites."

"Ha ha, very funny Holly. If I don't have a shot in my hand within five minutes I just might bite someone though." Chris looked at Gail seriously considering the odds that she would resort to biting. Coming to his conclusion, he quickly made his way to the bar.

"Peck! Stewart! Glad you could make it." Gail turned to see Dov walked towards the pair with his hands triumphantly in the air. "So I take it you heard the good news then? Chloe!? How great is that? I spent the whole day at the hospital filling her in on everything. I'm going to head back over there in a few. McNally agreed to swap her night shift tomorrow with mine tonight so I can stay there."

"Dov, as happy as I am for you, and as glad as I am that Chloe didn't die…I feel the need to point out that your cheery demeanor is seriously killing my vibe" Dov didn't even notice Gail's comment. She had a feeling she could tell him that she murdered a million puppies and that smile plastered to his face would remain intact.

Gail rolled her eyes and looked over to Holly. Holly gave Gail a quizzical look. "So I'm Stewart now?"

"Ignore boy genius there, he's just being weird. Where the hell is Chris with my drink?" Gail peered through the crowd and saw Chris awkwardly trying to figure out how to pick up all the drinks he had ordered.

Holly released Gail's arm and walked over to the bar to help Chris. By the time she and Chris made it back Gail was already bitching to someone new about who knows what. This lack of sleep must really be getting to her. Spotting Holly and Chris, Gail walked off without any explanation to whoever it was she had been gracing with her company. The guy didn't look exactly heartbroken to get away from her.

"How many of those are mine?" Gail didn't even wait for an answer and took both the shots out of Chris's hand and downed them one after the other. She placed them on the closest table before taking the Jack and Coke Holly was handing her and drinking half of it in one gulp.

"What?" she shot at Chris.

"How do you know one of those wasn't mine?" Chris teased.

"Nice try, you have to work tonight. I'm guessing they weren't for Holly."

Gail began to ease off and they grabbed a table in the corner and found their way into a conversation involving weird things you could do with a spatula, which high school teachers they would love to arrest now and then finally old arcade games.

"I was never really into Pac-Man, I but I could kick some serious ass at mortal combat." Gail looked at Holly as if she had just told her she slept on a bed of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

"No way Holly, I won't believe it till I see it." Gail was on her third Jack and Coke by now, and had managed to swipe another shot from someone while she thought Holly wasn't looking.

Holly on the other hand had barely finished her second beer. "I could destroy you."

"Bullshit."

"You don't even know what you have just started Officer. I am a nerd after all and nerds do love their video games. I'm surprised in your infinite cop wisdom and of course snooping you didn't notice my x-box."

Gail laughed and knew Holly had to be kidding. "Trust me Holly I snooped the shit out of your place and have yet to find an x-box."

"It is in the guest bedroom. I put it in there a few months ago so I would stop playing as much. You can check for yourself."

"Nice try, nerd. This is just a ploy to get me back to your place so you can take advantage of me." Gail tipped the remainder of her glass back and finished her drink. "You know if you really wanted me to come back with you, all you had to do was ask."

Chris looked severely uncomfortable. "I think that is my cue, I have to head to the station." He got up hurriedly and left the table.

"Well I think you have exceeded your two drink quota so we can leave if you want to." Holly offered casually.

Gail grinned and pulled Holly from the table and made her way to exit barely muttering goodbyes along the way. Once at the car Holly took the keys Gail offered her and got into the driver's seat. "So back to your place or did you want to come back to mine?"

"I want proof of this alleged x-box." Holly rolled her eyes at Gail and laughed. She started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. By the time they were at Holly's apartment Gail was fast asleep. Between the lack of a good night's rest in a while and the drinks at The Penny, Holly was not surprised. She gently woke Gail and helped her up to the apartment.

She left Gail in the living room while she changed into a tank top and shorts and grabbed some pajama pants and a tank for Gail to sleep in. When she returned to where she left Gail she found her missing. The light in the spare bedroom was on and Holly found Gail sitting on the floor looking through the games that belonged to the x-box under the TV.

"I'm not quite sure what it is about this discovery Holly…but I think it has made me like you more." With that she got up and took the clothes from Holly's hand and walked towards the bedroom. Gail was already in bed and knocked out when Holly walked back in the room. She had only taken a few minutes to clean up the small mess she had left earlier but it had only taken Gail half that time to fall asleep.

Holly turned the light off and climbed into bed next to Gail. She felt Gail shift and roll over towards her. Gail slid an arm over Holly's abdomen and placed her head on Holly's shoulder. Holly kissed the top of Gail's head. Right as Holly was about to fall asleep she felt Gail's bare leg slide over her own. It was then she realized that Gail had never put on the pajama pants that Holly had given to her. All of a sudden Holly wasn't quite as tired as her had been.


	17. Chapter 17

"Stooooppppp it!" Gail was having too much fun torturing Holly to stop. She had been bouncing like a kid at the end of the bed for a few minutes trying to get Holly to wake up.

"Why are you so tired sleepyhead? I slept wonderfully." Gail had resorted to ripping the covers off Holly mid-sentence. She had to duck out of the way to avoid getting hit in the face with the pillow Holly had launched at her. "What are you saying? I'm never going to figured out what you are saying if you keep saying it into a pillow!"

Holly finally managed to get herself into a pseudo-sitting position. "I said that I got hardly any sleep last night so I'm tired."

"Why couldn't you sleep?" Gail had taken a seat next to Holly on the bed and was trying to decide if she was far enough from her to avoid another pillow attack if Holly determined it was necessary.

"It's your fault."

Gail was officially confused. "How is this my fault? Was I rolling all over the bed or something? Snoring? Because that does tend to happen when I drink enough."

"Pants."

Gail couldn't help her laugh. "Ok. I'm pretty sure you are still asleep because you are making no sense. I'll go make you some coffee, but you have to talk like a normal human being after that."

"No Gail. Pants. You didn't have pants on. I could feel your legs all night rubbing on me. It kept turning me on. It was driving me fucking insane." Holly sounded legitimately upset.

"So, pants?" Gail was still laughing a bit.

"PANTS!" If Gail hadn't seen the slight smile escape Holly's lips she would have thought that she might really be mad at her. Gail decided two could play at that game.

"Well Holly, if it upsets you that much I promise to never be pants-less around you ever again. Also, since when do you drop f-bombs?"

Holly grabbed the other pillow off the bed and made like she was going to nail Gail upside the head. "Don't threaten me Officer. And I just save it for special moments."

"Well I kinda like it. Say it again." Gail urged as she poked Holly lightly.

Holly rolled her eyes. "Seriously Gail?"

"Yes I'm serious. I like it. Come on just once."

"You are really FUCKING obnoxious right now. Better?"

Gail smiled and shoved Holly back down into the bed. "Yes better. For that I am going to make you Peckcakes."

"You are going to what?"

"Peckcakes! Pancakes but you know Peck, so peckcakes." Gail explained.

Holly snickered. "Fine Gail, go make your PECKcakes. They better be fantastic to make up for your shenanigans." With that Holly launched the other pillow at Gail's back as she walked out of the room.

Half an hour later the two of them sat at the breakfast bar with their coffee and a plate full of Gail's Peckcakes. Holly was surprised at how amazing they were. Gail had before proclaimed that she tended to cause "Foodtastrophies" when she cooked. Apparently homemade pancakes did not apply. Holly smiled up at Gail as she sipped her coffee.

"Gail. I think I might want to have sex with these pancakes. Like, I don't think it would be fair if I ever ate a normal pancake again. They would have no chance competing from the start. Just wouldn't be fair to them." Holly said with a very straight face.

Gail burst into laughter before correcting Holly. "Of course they don't compare Holly. These aren't pancakes, they are PECK!-cakes. It's like apples and oranges."

Holly stood up and offered Gail her very best sarcastic apology for confusing the two 'vastly different' foods. Gail glared which just made Holly laugh harder. She kissed Gail's frown and took their empty plates into the kitchen.

"So Chef Peck what shall we do with our Sunday?" Holly asked as she cleaned up the kitchen.

Gail walked in to assist Holly with the dishes. "Well I was thinking we could watch one of your old horror movies tonight, possibly order in, finally have sex, and break out the Xbox so I can see what you are made of." She had said all of this in a matter of fact tone and it seemed that Holly wasn't about to pick up on her not so hidden suggestion.

"Yeah that sounds like f…wait…what did you just say?" Holly snapped her head towards Gail.

"Xbox? Movie? Food?" Gail offered with her best poker face.

Holly just stared at her. "No. The part where you said we should finally have sex!?"

"Oh, yeah, that. Well I mean if you don't want to that's fine too…I mean no big deal. We can just sit here too. That sounds like a lot more fun actually." Gail was trying really hard to keep the smile that was building at bay. She was having way too much fun teasing Holly.

"Oh no, no, no. It's too late now. It would just be cruel to tease me with that. Even you wouldn't just leave me here with that." Holly pulled the plate Gail had been holding out of her hand and placed it in the sink. She took a step closer to Gail until they were almost touching. "Maybe you shouldn't be so mean Gail. I do know how to get rid of evidence you know. It would be way too easy for me; no one would ever find your body."

"Why Dr. Stewart, are you threating me? You do know I am a police Officer? I could arrest you for that." Gail put on her best stern look.

Holly had a devious grin plastered onto her face. "Well Officer, I guess you caught me. You will just have to take me into custody. But I think I have some weapons on me. I can only suggest a strip search. You know for your protection and all."

Gail grabbed Holly's waist and pulled her in. Their lips found each other in a millisecond. Holly could feel Gail's hands pulling her shirt up. She lifted her arms and Gail removed her shirt and flung it onto the breakfast bar. Holly was pulling at Gail's shirt in return but the blonde wasn't letting her have it so easily.

"Bedroom. Now!" Holly demanded. Gail grabbed Holly's wrist and dragged her into the master bedroom and slammed the door behind her.


	18. Chapter 18

**_So, fair warning: this is my first attempt at a chapter of this sort. Proceed at your own risk._**

* * *

"This is going to have to go." Gail relinquished her hold on Holly's hands long enough to unclasp the bra and remove it from Holly. She took her time taking in Holly's immense beauty. She had only seen this much of Holly once before and it had been rather dark. She was absolutely stunning. Gail's fingertips grazed over the curves of Holly's body and she found her eyes were following, taking in each bit of her. Her fingers made their way up to Holly's shoulders and Gail looked up into her eyes. What she saw was pure desire.

Holly couldn't take it anymore and she grabbed Gail's hips. Her hands quickly slid down and found the back of Gail's thighs. She effortlessly lifted her up so that Gail was straddling her. She walked Gail over to bed and leaned down until she was fully on top of her. She kissed Gail's neck and lightly nipped at her earlobe. Gail pushed Holly up enough so that she could pull her own shirt off her body. Holly wrapped one arm around Gail's waist and slid the woman up the bed so her head was on the pillow. Gail attempted to regain control only to be met by Holly pushing her back down on the bed.

Gail had always been uncomfortable not being in control of a situation and sex was no different. But Holly being so passionate and aggressive all of a sudden had her experiencing a whole other kind of feeling. Gail wanted Holly and she wanted her now.

"I want you to fuck me Holly."

Holly felt her need for the woman on the bed increase tenfold. Gail was looking at her with such desire and she knew Gail was finally ready for what was about to happen.

"I think I can manage that babe." Holly slid her hand up to the clasp on Gail's bra and unhooked it. In a second it was on the floor and Holly was stunned by Gail's body. She let her hands run free on every bit of Gail. She finally found the top of the pajama pants Gail had put on when she got up this morning. Gail lifted her hips up slightly giving Holly permission to remove them which Holly obliged willing. Her lips began kissing their way up Gail's legs starting at her ankle. She reached Gail's thigh and tugged lightly signaling Gail to remove the only article left she had on.

"Holly, stop." Holly froze. She immediately thought that Gail changed her mind. That it was too much for her to do yet after all. She pushed herself off Gail and stood next to bed awkwardly.

Gail saw the look of fear and concern on Holly's face and had a moment of clarity. Holly obviously thought she had gone too far. It killed Gail to think of how Holly must being mentally reprimanding herself. She needed to explain what she meant. "Babe, no don't worry. It's not that. I just need you to take your shorts off before you get me totally naked. It's only fair"

Relief washed over Holly's face and she bent down and kissed Gail lightly. "Okay good, because I thought I had freaked you out."

"Not even close. I want you Holly, I need you. All of you. Right now. So take you fucking shorts off before I rip them off."

Holly stripped down and stood by the bed. Gail felt her jaw drop. She reached out and pulled Holly onto the bed so that she was straddling her legs. Gail couldn't get a single word out. She wanted to tell Holly how unbelievably gorgeous she was, how in awe she was of her beauty. She wanted to tell her so many things, but not a sound would make it out.

Holly blushed at the expression that had overcome her girlfriend's face. She had never seen Gail with such a shocked look before. "Babe. You are staring."

Gail regained a bit of composure. "Holly… you are… I just…um I mean…Shit. I can't even talk right now. Wow. You are just…wow."

Holly smiled a bit embarrassed. "You look pretty damn wow yourself." The change in Holly's tone didn't escape Gail. She sensed every ounce of need in her voice. She led Holly's hands down her stomach and placed them on her hip bones. Holly took the hint and removed Gail's final article of clothing. Both women were now completely naked.

Holly rolled onto the bed pulling Gail up on top of her. She pulled Gail's upper body down onto hers. Gail's lips instantly met Holly's. Gail could feel Holly gently slid her hands up her thighs until they found their place on her hips. Holly pushed Gail's hips down so that there was no space between the women. Holly instantly felt warmth and wetness on her from Gail. She pulled Gail down onto her harder getting as much contact as possible. A moan escaped Gail's lips and Holly was pretty sure she felt her breathing quicken.

Gail felt Holy's fingers teasing her thighs. She started on top and had made her way to her inner thighs. The suspense was killing Gail. Didn't Holly understand how much she needed her to touch her? As if she had read Gail's mind Holly moved her fingers between hers and Gail's body gently until they were as close as they could get to where Gail really needed them to be without being there. Holly pulled out of their kiss and searched Gail's face. Gail bit her bottom lip slightly and put a hand on the side of Holly's face and kissed her gently.

It was as much permission as Holly needed. She slid two fingers inside of Gail and immediately felt Gail tighten around her. Gail moved her hips to the pace set by Holly's hand and let her head fall into Holly's neck. Holly could hear every noise Gail made and each time she moaned it sent her a little farther over the edge. Gail was moving on top of her more and more. Holly pressed her palm flat against Gail's clit as her fingers working inside her. Gail moaned loudly. She pulled her head up and kissed Holly with more passion than she ever had.

"Holy shit Holly. Please don't stop. You feel so fucking good." She could tell Gail was close but she wasn't quite ready to let Gail give in just yet.

Before she knew what was happening Gail was on her back and Holly was straddling her. Gail reached out for Holly, wanting to pull her on top of herself but Holly pulled back smiling mischievously. That look sent chills down Gail's spine. She knew whatever Holly was about to do was going to blow her mind.

Holly kissed Gail for a minute before placing her lips on Gail's neck. She continued her way down Gail's body placing kisses on her as she went. Gail's eyes couldn't leave Holly as she ceremonially made her way down her abdomen. When Holly reached her hipbones she pulled Gail's legs up so they were bent at the knees. Gail could feel Holly's lips brush against the inside of her thigh. She felt her hips arc slightly needing to be close to her girlfriend.

Holly's lips met Gail at the same time that Holly slid her fingers back into her. Gail was in another world. "Holly, I'm so close." Gail could feel Holly moan as soon as the words left her mouth. Holly's fingers curled inside of Gail and any last ounce of control Gail had went out the window. Between the movements of Holly's fingers caressing inside her to the way Holly was running her lips and tongue across Gail, it was just too much and Gail felt herself falling into her orgasm.

"Oh…shit Holly! Don't stop! Oh my god. Fuck!" Holly heard each word burst out of Gail's mouth. She felt her tighten around her fingers and knew Gail was beyond the point of control. She glanced up at Gail and their eyes met. Gail thought her heart was about to explode. She couldn't look away from Holly's eyes.

Gail slowed her movements down, and her breathing followed. Holly didn't dare remover her fingers yet though. She slid her body up Gail's and met her lips with her own. Gail threw her hands behind Holly's neck and pulled her in tight. Their kisses were complete passion. When they finally managed to break apart Holly placed a soft kiss on Gail's check and slowly extracted her fingers from inside of Gail. Gail wasn't able to hold back and she felt her eyes close and her breath stop for a minute as she savored the feeling.

"Wow Holly. That was beyond amazing. You are beyond amazing." Gail was barely able to get the words out. She was still trying to catch her breath. Holly smiled and kissed Gail.

"You have no idea how much I've been wanting to do that. " Holly whispered.

Gail rolled on top of Holly and looked her in the eyes. "You have no idea how long I have wanted it either babe. I just couldn't wait any longer."

Holly wrapped her arms around Gail and pulled her into an embrace. Gail could feel a sense of calm wash over her. Everything about Holly was right. She felt at home against her body, she felt like she belonged in Holly's bed, she belonged in her life. Gail placed a kiss on the side of Holly's neck and heard Holly attempt to stifle a moan. She realized that Holly was trying hard to keep from Gail her wanting need for Gail's touch. Gail tensed up.

Holly felt Gail's body become more rigid. She had tried not to let it show how much she wanted Gail to touch her. It wasn't easy, Gail's reaction to Holly had sparked an intense an unwavering need in Holly. Gail might be ready for Holly to take care of her in bed, but she knew it was a whole other hurdle for her to be ready to return the favor. She didn't want to pressure her into it. She wanted the first time Gail did to be the right time. Holly worried that her moan had frightened Gail.

Gail felt guilty. Holly had just given her the most intense orgasm she had ever experienced. Holly obviously was still extremely turned on and Gail felt panic rush over her.

"Holly I don't…"

Gail had barely opened her mouth before Holly interrupted her. "Gail. It is okay, I promise. I don't need you to…do anything…I just want you back in my arms. I just want you here with me. Nothing else matters. You don't have to be ready for this yet."

Gail kissed Holly. "Babe. It's not that. I want to be able to make you feel the same way you made me feel. I want it so badly. I just…don't…..I don't know how." Gail couldn't look into Holly's eyes. She was embarrassed that she had no idea, not even a clue of what Holly wanted her to do, how to start, where to place her body, her mouth, her hands, anything. She felt like a fool having to admit to her girlfriend she didn't know how to please her. And she felt even more like a fool being so scared of not being able to please her at all.

"Gail…Let me make this completely clear. There is no right, no wrong. There is no hand book, or instruction manual. This doesn't come with directions. There is just you and me. Here. Together. Gail, look at me." She reluctantly raised her eyes to meet Holly. "Babe. Don't think, just feel. It will come to you. You have no idea the things you make me feel every day. When you kiss me I can feel my knees weaken. When you smile at me, my heart skips a beat. When I watch you walk into a room, I have to remind myself to breathe. You have an effect on me that is beyond comprehension. That is how I know that you can do this, all on your own. There is nothing to fear Gail. I promise."

Gail couldn't believe how amazing this woman was. She knew Holly wanted to reassure her and calm her nerves. But she also realized that Holly was right. It was just the two of them in this room, with all of the time in the world to learn each other's bodies. That was the beauty of this relationship with Holly. Every time Gail thought she wasn't ready for the next step, Holly took her hand and led her forward and when she reached that next step Gail realized that she had been ready all along. She just needed Holly there with her. And Holly was here now, telling Gail that she could do this, whether that would be today, tomorrow, a week, a month. However long Gail took, Holly would wait. And in the end Holly would be right all along."

Gail smiled down at Holly and placed a hand on the side of her check. "Holly. I want to do this. With you. And I want to do it now." Gail was barely whispering, and she felt her voice shake a little. She knew that her nerves wouldn't disappear completely but she felt more at ease than she had. She placed her lips on Holly's and kissed her passionately.

Holly felt Gail's hand make its way across her body. It didn't take long for Gail to find what she was searching for. Holly's reaction surprised even her. Gail's instincts were really fucking spectacular and Holly realized that Gail would be able to read her like a book. She looked at her girlfriend to see if she noticed and saw something even more shocking. Gail was biting her lip, breathing hard, and looking at Holly with such intensity. Holly saw straight through Gail's expression for what it was. Gail really did want this. And she wanted it badly.


	19. Chapter 19

**_Seriously can't put into words how touched I am at the reception of the last chapter. Thanks so much to everyone!_**

* * *

It was almost noon by the time Gail woke up again. She felt a little chilly. She pulled the sheets up over her realizing she was naked. That morning's events flooded into her mind. A smile had found its way onto her lips. She rolled out of bed and threw on a t-shirt and the shorts Holly had been wearing the night before. She made her way into the kitchen where Holly stood facing the stove. Holly was only wearing a bra and panties. She looked gorgeous. Gail slid up behind her and pulled her into a hug.

"Hey! Good morning!" The giant grin on Holly's face was absolutely adorable.

"Only barely morning now." Gail winked before kissing her. She pulled Holly into another hug and whispered in her ear "Holly, thank you."

Holly giggled and pulled out of the hug. "You don't have to thank me Gail. I should be thanking you. I came twice, in like 5 minutes…so yeah."

Gail couldn't help herself. "Well what did you expect nerd? I'm a police officer. My instincts are perfection." Holly laughed while she pushed Gail out of the kitchen and motioned for her to sit down at the breakfast bar. "What are you making anyways?"

"Breakfast scramble. Some eggs, chorizo, cheese, bell peppers, onions and potatoes. Should be done in a minute. Can you grab the toast?" Gail hopped off her chair and grabbed some plates for them and put the toast and forks on them. She went back to grab some coffee for the two of them only to notice that the coffee pot was empty.

"Holly! You forgot the most important part! Where is the coffee?" Holly couldn't help but laugh at the expression on Gail's face. She looked far too worried. "We aren't having coffee."

"Whoa, what do you mean no coffee? Holly did you hit your head earlier or something. You aren't making any sense."

Holly laughed even harder. "Gail, relax. Grab two glasses out of the cabinet and the juice from the fridge door. Then move that container of spinach leafs out of the way and grab that bottle."

"Champagne?" Gail was momentarily confused. "Mimosas! Well I guess I can make an exception to the no coffee rule in this case." She poured the drinks and placed them in from of her and Holly's usual seats. Holly dished up the food and brought it over.

They ate together stealing quick glances at one another and smiling. When they finished they cleaned up the kitchen and got dressed. Gail really wanted to get out and do something today and Holly was already looking at her laptop trying to find something fun for them.

"Okay…so it looks like our options are a new photography gallery a few blocks away, a Leaf's game tonight at 8:30, and there is a wine tasting this afternoon at that weird bar by your place that always has that guy with the iguana standing outside of it." Holly shouted towards the bedroom.

Gail came running out of the room toweling off her wet hair. "Oh my God. I totally know exactly what bar you are talking about! We are definitely NOT going there! What time is that gallery open until?"

Holly glanced over at Gail questioningly. "I did not take you for an artsy type."

"I actually used to be really into photography when I was in school. I wasn't very good but I have always had a deep appreciation for it." Gail admitted.

"Well in that case they are having an opening until about 8 tonight. They start around 4."

Gail walked over to Holly and placed her arms around her waist. "Okay so it looks like we have enough time to hit up the gallery early, grab some dinner, and then go to the Leaf's game. We can have a date afternoon and night! The arena is right by my place though so you should probably pack a bag. That way we can drink all we want at the game and walk back to mine."

"Sounds perfect." It didn't escape Holly that this would be the first time Gail has invited her to stay the night with her. She had been over Friday but that was a weird situation.

She offered Gail a genuine smile and walked over towards the spare bedroom. "Hurry up getting ready so I can kick your ass in mortal combat." Gail laughed and walked back toward Holly's bedroom while pulling her hair out of the towel.

Ten minutes later Gail walked in holding out a bottle of beer for Holly, taking a sip of the other one in her hand. "Alright nerd, let's see what you got." The two played mortal combat for about an hour. Gail got her ass kicked by Holly every single fight. They had since moved on to Call of Duty.

"Fucking asshole! What the hell Holly!"Gail shoved the woman sitting on the floor next to her hard enough to send Holly onto her side. Holly was crying in laughter. It had been awhile since she had played any video games, but she was glad her skills hadn't diminished. She loved the way Gail got so flustered at her because Holly knew deep down the fact that she was able to not only hold her own, but beat Gail at every game they played actually earned her points with her girlfriend.

Holly glanced at her phone sitting next to her, realizing what the time was. "Hey babe, we should probably head out soon." Gail nodded, turning off the console. She put her's and Holly's controllers back and offered her a hand up. Gail pulled her up to her feet and into a kiss.

"You know, I have to admit Holly, I am impressed. I didn't take you for a gamer, but obviously I was wrong. I went easy on you though, so we will just have to see who really is better during the rematch." Gail walked out of the room smiling to herself. She hated losing, like really, really hated it. But she had enjoyed playing with Holly, even though Holly had completely put her to shame fair and square. She couldn't help but smile.

Holly quickly packed her bag and waited for Gail to gather her stuff. They left the apartment and drove over to the gallery. They spent an hour taking in the artwork together. Gail would stop at each photograph and discuss it with Holly. Holly had always enjoyed art in any form, but she wasn't very knowledgeable of it. Gail had caught on pretty quick and had led Holly around each room, explaining techniques and sharing with Holly what she saw in each photograph. Holly loved this side of Gail, this intricate, soft, and complex side of Gail that she knew she was lucky to see. Getting to see Gail like this just confirmed what Holly already knew, that she was falling hard for this woman.

"Holly! Hey lunchbox." Gail was waving a hand in front of Holly's face.

"Wha…oh, sorry." Holly said blushing slightly. She wondered how long she had been staring at Gail with that goofy smile she always had on around Gail.

Gail smiled to herself, guessing what was going through Holly's mind. She took Holly by the hand and led her out of the gallery and back to the car. She took the keys from Holly and got into the driver's side. As they drove through the city Gail couldn't help but hope that Holly had been indeed thinking what she thought she had. She knew that the feelings between her and Holly had been on the fast track lately. Normally this would scare the shit out of her, but it put her at ease. For the first time Gail found herself considering her future with someone without intense fear. She of course had her worries, but those were about her own ability to fuck up any relationship she touched. She wanted this relationship with Holly to be different, to work.

She pulled into a parking lot and turned the engine off. Holly looked confused. Gail laughed slightly and pulled her out of the car. Holly reluctantly followed Gail into a warehouse. "Gail…uh, not to sound freaked out or anything, but where are you taking me? I thought we were going to dinner."

Gail didn't reply but only tightened her grip on Holly's hands. She reached the front of the building and opened the door. Holly followed her inside. It was pitch black. Holly was seriously getting nervous. She had no idea what was going on, but from her experience she knew nothing good usually happened in creepy dark warehouses.

A light came on in a side room and Holly's attention was immediately drawn to it. "Gail someone is here."

"I know, relax. Everything is okay."

She followed Gail across the building until they reached the room emitting the light. Gail opened the door to reveal a stairway leading down into a cellar? A basement? A dungeon? Holly could only guess. Gail held the door open allowing Holly to walk in first. Holly immediately noticed she could hear voices and music playing. She reached the bottom of the stairs and waited for Gail. There was a single door in front of them. Holly tried the door but found it to be locked. Gail smiled at her and pulled a magnetized card out of her pocket, looking identical to that of a hotel key. Gail swiped it through the card reader on the wall and the door opened.

Holly felt a smile wash over her as her and Gail stepped inside. The room was cozy, there was a fireplace roaring across from them and the lighting was dimmed. The walls, ceiling and floor were all made of stone. There were only about 10 small tables aside from the seats at the bar. The bar was full and there was only one table unoccupied. A woman approached them with two menus.

"I assume that you are Ms. Peck and Ms. Stewart?" When Gail nodded the woman continued. "Very well, if you will just have a seat we will begin in a moment." With that she led the two to the open table and placed the menus in front of them.

Once she was out of earshot Holly leaned towards Gail. "Okay, I will have to say, this is not what I saw coming at all. What exactly is this place?"

Just as Gail opened her mouth to explain their waitress came back with their drinks and they placed their order. Not a minute after she left another man walked into the room from a door Holly had not previously noticed. "Ladies and gentlemen, I regret that I must inform you of some horrible news. It seems that we have had a murder on the premises. A young woman was just found dead in the restroom. There was a note stating that if we choose to inform the police that we ourselves will be held accountable and find a repeat occurrence. It seems that the murderer is among us and we are all in danger."

Holly looked at Gail and saw a smile on her face. Gail leaned over the table again and whispered so no one else could hear them talking. "It's a murder mystery dinner."


	20. Chapter 20

"I can't believe you took me to a murder mystery dinner. That really wasn't fair to everyone else there." Holly laughed as her and Gail walked to the car. She had had a blast with Gail. The two of them solved the crime easily and spent the rest of the evening laughing silently at the others' feeble attempts. "How did you set this up so quickly?" Holly asked.

Gail knew Holly would enjoy this type of nerdy thing. She wouldn't admit it but Holly was a perfect excuse, she had been wanting to go since she heard about it. "Well I actually had it set up for a different night for us. I wanted to surprise you next weekend and then when I was in the bedroom getting changed I got a phone call. They had a cancellation and asked if we wanted to move it to tonight. The timing fit perfectly and I knew we would have a blast."

Holly gave Gail a hug and got into the car. They quickly drove to Gail's apartment. "Okay we don't have a lot of time before the game." Gail said throwing her car keys into the bowl by the door.

"Okay just give me a minute and we can leave." Holly grabbed the bag she had brought with her to the bathroom and closed the door. She came out a couple minutes later with her hair pulled back and a hoodie on. "Where do you want me put my bag?"

"Just drop it on the bed in my room." Gail said with a wink. Holly came back without her bag but holding something in her hand. She tossed it at Gail. It was a shirt. More specifically it was a Leaf's jersey. Gail looked back up at Holly and noticed she had unzipped her hoodie to reveal her own jersey.

"I know you 'don't do sports' but you gotta love the Leaf's!" Gail had already removed her jacket and was switching her shirt for the jersey. Giggling as she caught Holly's reference to the batting cages.

She walked over to Holly and pulled her in for a kiss. "You are right. I don't DO sports, but I love hockey. I have no problem as long as I am not the one playing."

With that Gail dragged a grinning Holly out of the apartment and into the cold. They walked the couple of blocks to the arena talking animatedly about the best games they had seen. Gail told Holly about this time a few years back that she had gone to a game with Steve that ended in three people going to the hospital because one of the visiting team members had smashed into the plexy-glass hard enough to break it giving a few people bad lacerations.

They had reached their seats and were sipping on a beer by the time Gail finished the story. "Wait a second. That wasn't like 3 years ago was it? Right after new years?" Holly asked.

"Yeah."

"I was at that game too. I was sitting behind the penalty boxes. Saw the whole thing happen, that was insane." Holly couldn't believe it.

Gail's eyes widened. "No way, Steve and I were sitting by there too. We were maybe half a row down from there." They both laughed at the weird coincidence.

The game began and was intense from the very start. Holly kept screaming at the ref over his calls. The guy to her right chimed in with her yelling about the B.S. penalty shot he had awarded the visiting team. When the action had died down a little he introduced himself to Holly.

"Glad to see a woman who knows her hockey and doesn't mind giving these idiots a hard time. I'm Jeff by the way." He offered his hand out and Holly shook it. Before she was able to speak he continued. "So I was actually going to grab a beer. Maybe I could bring back one for you too? My friend Jason here would be glad to bring one back for your friend."

"Thank you for the offer, but I think my girlfriend and I are okay, right babe?" Gail was too distracted with the game to notice the situation unfold and had only turned toward them when Holly had addressed her.

"Damn, that was almost a goal. GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!" She shouted towards the ice. "Sorry Hol, what were you asking?"

"Oh, my new friend here was asking if he and his friend could buy us a drink but I let him know we are fine." Gail knew what Holly had meant about the situation and decided that she didn't like men hitting on Holly one bit. She was tempted to voice her opinion and then decided to save her frustrations for the game. Instead she opted on a subtle approach.

"Oh that's nice babe, but it think I am fine too." She spoke while taking Holly's hand in hers. "Besides, you snore when you get drunk, and I have other plans for our night." She winked at Holly knowing this would get the message out loud and clear that they were a couple. The men caught the hints and placed their attention back on the game.

The rest of the game had been fantastic. Gail and Holly had both been shouting animatedly throughout the game. When the Leafs won in a shootout Gail jumped out of her seat and grabbed onto Holly in a celebratory embrace. "We won!" With that she pulled Holly in for a very intense kiss. The kiss turned heated quickly and they both found a need to take it further. Realizing their location wasn't exactly the best to continue Gail dragged Holly out and back to her apartment.

The entered the front door already kissing. Gail had just managed to lock the door behind her before Holly had pulled Gail's shirt off. Gail glanced around making sure that no one was in the apartment before removing Holly's shirt. She didn't think she could keep herself in check if someone else were to make a pass at Holly tonight.

Holly slid her hand to the back of Gail's thighs and pulled her up on her hips so that she could carry Gail into the bedroom. She slammed the door behind her and dropped Gail on the bed. It was a little warm in the room to begin with, but with the added heat between the two of them it was too much. Gail and Holly yanked at each other's clothes, trying to get them off as quickly as possible. As soon as the last piece of clothing was no longer in the way Holly climbed atop the bed so that she was hovering over Gail.

Gail pulled her into a kiss. Holly felt the sweet taste of Gail's tongue on her own and could tell that Gail was hungry for her. Gail felt Holly's knees push her own apart. "Where do you keep your handcuffs?" Holly wasn't so much questioning Gail as much as she was demanding it.

Gail couldn't help the expression that had made its way onto her face. Here she was with an astoundingly gorgeous and sexy woman. A woman who obviously wanted her. And to top it off this woman wanted to bring handcuffs into the mix. This was new. Gail thought back and was surprised to realize that none of the men she had been with had ever thought to throw in a little kinky roleplaying, or really much of anything for that matter. She slid off the bed, noticing the mischievous glint in Holly's eyes. She opened the top drawer of her night stand and unlocked the box sitting inside. She moved her service weapon and passport out of the way and grabbed the set of cuffs she kept there. She turned back towards Holly holding them up slightly enough to tease her.

"Ma'am, I am afraid that I am going to have to place you under arrest. We can either do this the easy way or the hard way but I will leave that up to you." As soon as Gail began speaking Holly's eyebrows shot up with her interest peaked.

Holly laughed smugly. "Well Officer, I know you don't really like to anything other than the difficult way, and I think everyone knows that I am not exactly easy. I guess that only leaves us one option."

"I guess it does."

10 minutes later Holly found herself handcuffed with a very enthusiastic Gail between her legs. She was breathing unbearably hard, it seemed like she was never going to be able to catch her breath. Every time she thought she was able to slow down and take a second Gail had found some new and enchanting way to make Holly scream out Gail's name. She knew she was going to have two killer bruises on her wrists from the handcuffs tomorrow but she didn't care.

Gail was savoring every second of their new experience. She loved this crazy side of Holly. All of these seemingly small and strange quirks that Holly kept letting slip were making Gail all the more crazier about her. One of these new things was how surprisingly sweet she tasted. Gail had sent Holly into two shattering orgasms this morning but neither of those involved her mouth. This time around was different. The timid nature of their first time was gone and in its place was a newly found confidence.

The instant Gail had cuffed Holly she took advantage of her upper hand. She had started by teasing Holly with her hands while kissing all over her. She hadn't planned on going this far, but she got carried away with herself and before she knew it here she was. It was probably better that she hadn't been planning this though, no time to freak out or doubt herself. Instead she had slid her arms under Holly's thighs and pulled her close. She had teased the insides of her legs and hipbones until she couldn't wait any longer. The moment her lips touched Holly's center she knew she wouldn't be able to stop herself.

Holly was intoxicating. Gail loved everything about this moment, the way Holly was taken by surprise, the way she had taken herself by surprise, but mostly she loved that this all felt so natural, like she had been here for years, with her tongue sliding over Holly's clit and two of her fingers racing in and out of her. Each cry of her name, each moan, each 'fuck' or 'shit' that came out of Holly's mouth made Gail want to be here even more. She knew she could be more than content to have the feeling of Holly's clit on her lips every day for a very long time.

Holly couldn't hold on much longer. Gail was definitely a natural. "Gail, I can't hold back…" Holly felt Gail smile against her and it sent a shiver down her spine.

Gail stopped and looked up at her girlfriend. Holly glanced down towards Gail.

"Holly, I want you to come for me." As soon as the words were out of her mouth Gail lowered herself back down to her new favorite place. Holly lost any control she had left in her. Gail relished the effect she had on Holly. She took everything in as Holly became unbelievably wet and began to constrict around her fingers, rocking her hips uncontrollably against Gail's mouth. She didn't relent until she knew Holly wouldn't be able to take any more. She kissed Holly's hips one more time and slid back up the bed sucking Holly's juices off her fingers one at a time.

They lied together in bed kissing lightly but mostly just holding each other. Eventually Gail rolled over towards her alarm to set it for the morning before turning right back to Holly and curling up against her. They were both fast asleep in minutes.


	21. Chapter 21

**_Yes I know this is ungodly short, however I am posting multiple chapters today as well so hopefully that makes up for this._**

* * *

Holly awoke cold and alone in bed. At first she thought that Gail had left already and was a little disappointed. Then she noticed the door to the bathroom was cracked open and the shower was running. A slight smile crept up on her lips as she quietly snuck into the room. She peaked behind the shower curtain. Gail had her back to her so Holly slipped into the shower undetected.

Gail felt hands reach around her body and pull her back into an embrace. She turned to find Holly grinning ear to ear. They shared a slow and gentle kiss before both found themselves giggling. Holly brushed Gail's wet locks out of her face. "Morning Officer."

"Morning nerd." They shared another kiss and Gail found her lips sliding down the side of Holly's neck. Morning shower sex sounded like a fantastic idea.

"Oh, no no no. Gail we have to get ready for work. We don't have time right now." Holly had to force the words out of her mouth.

Gail pulled back trying to look hurt. "You are the one who snuck in here with me. You can't tell me you didn't think I wouldn't try something."

She had a point. Holly knew what she was getting herself into by stepping into the shower. "Touché. Regardless we don't have time so just hand me body-wash and turn around." Gail turned back around handing Holly her body-wash over her shoulder. She had just reached for the shampoo when Holly began rubbing her now soapy hands all over Gail's shoulders.

"I though you said we didn't have time?" Gail shot at Holly, making no effort to stop her though.

"We don't. That doesn't mean we can't have a little fun though." Holly whispered.

Ten minutes later Holly stepped out of the shower and into the towel that Gail was holding up for her. They dried off and rushed to finish getting ready. Gail left Holly in the bathroom brushing her teeth and made her way back to the kitchen. She pulled two travel mugs out of her cabinet and filled them with coffee. They grabbed their bags and coffee and headed towards the front door. Just before Gail reached it Holly took her wrist and turned her around.

"Give me a call or text after your shift. I'll probably be swamped until late tonight but maybe we can meet up later this week?"

Gail kissed her girlfriend. "Sounds good. I'll call when I am done. I'm going to meet everyone at the Penny afterwards so maybe if you finish earlier you can swing by."

"Okay. Bye." Holly kissed Gail on the cheek and headed out of the door.


	22. Chapter 22

Holly's day had gone much as expected. She had walked into her office to find over a dozen emails waiting for her and 3 new case files sitting on her desk. Her lab assistant had called out sick and the new guy she had sent out to the field to gather evidence had gotten lost on his way back to the lab and caused a delay. It was about 7:00pm when her phone rang.

"Hey there nerd-face. You almost done or does it look like an all-nighter?" Gail didn't sound like she was in too much of a good mood herself.

Holly sighed into the phone. "Well I'm not sure about all-nighter but I will be here at least a few more hours and then back in early tomorrow. Can I take a rain check on the Penny?"

"Yeah. I'm not even going tonight anyways, too tired. Don't stay up too late though nerd. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay then, goodnight." Holly put her phone down and looked back at the body on her table. She was glad Gail wasn't going to the Penny either. She had almost felt guilty about being stuck at work. At least now she could concentrate on what was in front of her.

* * *

The next day had been a shit storm for Gail. She and Dov had been stuck on desk duty all day and she was going crazy. She took her phone out of her pocket and texted Holly.

G: Lunch?

H: No can do, I am still swamped.

G: Well I am starving. Do you have 5 minutes? I'll bring you something.

H: That would be great! I was starting to consider eating out of the vending machine.

G: Oh no! We couldn't have that now could we? God forbid the great Dr. Holly Stewart has to reside to eating cheese puffs and ho-hos.

H: No way Jose. I have been warned about those. There is a rumor flying around here that the last guy who ate a bag of those got verbally smacked by a certain blond cop for eating 'her' snacks.

G: That guy looked like he was going to pee himself!

H: I wonder why…

G: Well, I am going to go pick up some food and I'll see you in a bit.

H: Ok, thanks babe.

G: Yeah, yeah. ;)

Half an hour later Gail was standing in the door way of Holly's lab holding up a bag of food victoriously with a proud look on her face. Holly laughed a bit louder than she had intended. She managed muffled thanks between laughs.

"You are welcome nerd. I don't do this for just anyone you know. The only person I ever bring food for is Oliver, and only because he understands the importance of snacking. You should be so lucky." With that last comment Holly laughed even harder. She stripped off her gloves and lab coat and walked over to give her girlfriend a kiss.

"You are insufferable. But thank you, seriously. I am so hungry. What did you bring me anyways?" Holly had walked out of her lab with Gail at her side, making her way to the break room.

"Malaysian. Hope that is okay." Gail placed the containers on the table and handed Holly a bottle of water.

"Oh my god, that's perfect. I love Malaysian food." Gail smiled to herself at Holly's comment.

They ate in silence. Holly had eaten half of her food and had written her name on the container and put it in the fridge. "I hate to eat and run but I have so much to do. Thank you for lunch Gail."

Gail had finished her lunch already and had tossed her container in the trash. "Looks like you have dinner too." She said pointing towards the fridge.

"Yeah. It is going to be another long night." Holly said with a hint of guilt on her face. The two made their way out of the break room and headed back towards the lab.

"I know what you mean. I have to pull a double tonight so I'll be here awhile too. I'll see you tomorrow though." She kissed Holly on the cheek and made her way out to the parking lot. When she got back to the station she had a text from Holly.

'Thanks for coming to see me today! Be safe and I will call you tomorrow. XO'

Gail smiled to herself.


	23. Chapter 23

**_So because of the unexcusable shortness of the two other chapters I decided to post chapters 21-23 today. _**

* * *

The rest of the week had gone fairly similar. Both 15 and forensics were bogged down with cases. Holly and Gail had managed another break room lunch Tuesday and Holly had been able to meet Gail and Oliver at a diner Thursday afternoon. Other than that they had not seen each other since Monday morning. It was now Friday morning and she was stuck patrolling with Andy. It had been fairly awkward all morning.

"Gail, can we talk?" Andy looked like she was about to cry.

Gail knew that Andy wouldn't give it a break until she gave in and they still had another 6 hours on shift together. "Fine Andy, what do you want to talk about?" Gail noticed that her usual bite was harder to find this morning. She tried to remind herself that she hated Andy and found that it just wasn't there. Maybe she was finally ready to forgive her.

"I know I really messed up with the whole Nick thing. And I know that you don't want to hear me keep apologizing but I just really want everything to be okay between us." Andy chanced a glance towards Gail.

"Andy, what you did was really messed up. But I'm over Nick. And if this shooting has done any good its show that maybe I should just let this go. Who knows it could be you in the hospital next time and even I would be unhappy if that happened."

Andy saw what Gail was trying to say. She knew this was as much forgiveness as she was going to get and smiled to herself. "Well, I was going to grab some beers tonight. You should meet me after shift."

Gail knew she had promised dinner with Holly but she knew she really should make a bit of an effort to let Andy back into her life. "I actually have a date tonight."

Andy looked more than a little disappointed. "No of course. I understand, don't worry about it."

"I will meet you on the condition that I can bring my date with me. You two should probably meet anyways." Gail offered reluctantly.

"Yeah! That would be great." Andy almost shouted. Gail's answer had taken her by surprise.

The rest of the shift was a lot less awkward, they actually had found themselves laughing together at the poor idiot who had been busted asking where to buy drugs while he had two police officers standing right behind him in line at a coffee shop. They pulled back into the station and changed out of their uniform.

"Okay Gail, I'll meet you in half an hour then?" Andy said as she made her way out of the locker room.

"Yeah, yeah McNally. See you then." Gail answered back as she dialed Holly's number.

Holly picked up on the first ring. "Hey, I'm almost ready, give me 10 minutes and I'll pick you up."

"Holly."

"Yeah…"

"I know I promised that we would have a date night just the two of us but I need you to do something for me."

Holly paused before speaking again. "This isn't about helping you dispose of McNally's body or anything of the sort is it?"

Gail had forgotten she had text Holly this morning telling her she got stuck partnering with Andy today. "Actually it is about her, but I didn't kill her. I actually need you to come have dinner and drinks with us tonight."

This was the last thing Holly had expected Gail to say. "Yeah of course I will."

Gail let out a deep breath. "Okay good. I'll see you in a few then."

* * *

20 minutes later Gail and Holly sat in front of a small pizzeria waiting in Holly's car. Gail was debating on just leaving then and there. It had been a long week and she really just wanted to go back to Holly's place like they had planned. Finally she pulled herself together and stepped out. The pizzeria was fairly empty for a Friday night so she and Holly found a booth in the corner of the restaurant. They ordered a pitcher of beer and caught up while waiting on Andy. A few minutes later Andy walked in glancing around for them. Holly waved her over and she took a seat at the other end of the booth.

"Hey, I'm glad you were able to find it okay. This place has the best white pizza in town." Gail realized Andy had suggested this place on purpose, hoping to show Gail that she had taken her into consideration.

"Well the beer is pretty good, so there is that at least." Gail offered. Holly glanced at her as if to say she should try a little more. "Anyways, Andy this is who I wanted you to meet. Holly this is Andy, Andy this is my girlfriend Holly."

The two women were mid handshake when Andy realized what Gail meant. "Wait, girlfriend, girlfriend or like friend girlfriend?"

Holly laughed slightly and looked to Gail to answer. "Geez Andy, do you think I would make a big deal about you meeting a friend. Holly is my girlfriend, girlfriend. Like we have sex kind of girlfriend."

"Oh. Okay. Well, uh, wait, when did this happen? I thought you were straight." Andy said still not letting go of Holly's hand.

"I don't know exactly, we've been talking for a while, but it hasn't been official for too long. And I am still not exactly sure where I fall. I thought I was straight too. Whatever." Gail glanced at Holly and Andy still stuck in an eternal handshake. "You might want to be carefully McNally; you better not try and steal this one too."

Andy realized she had yet to relinquish her grasp on Holly. She let go while offering an apologetic look towards the woman. They ordered some pizza and wings and managed a fairly less awkward dinner. By 10pm they found themselves parting ways. Once Andy was out of earshot Holly nudged Gail and gave her a look as if to say 'that wasn't too bad.' Gail just gave her a knowing look back and got in Holly's car.

* * *

The next day at work Gail found herself and Andy falling back into their old ways fairly easily. Holly had come in to catch up on some reports and the three of them had grabbed a quick lunch together. The day had been going quite well until Gail got off shift. She was throwing her dirty uniform into her bag to take home and wash when her phone rang. She figured it was Holly calling to ask if she was done with her shift. They were supposed to do dinner at Holly's place since they had not had a chance to the night before. Gail's smile disappeared quickly when she looked at the caller ID.

"Mom. What can I do for you?" Gail sounded less than enthused.

"Well hello to you too dear. Can't a mother call her daughter without needing anything?" She didn't even wait for a response before continuing. "I was just calling to ask if you would be able to come for dinner tonight. Steven is coming."

Crap. She knew this wasn't so much an invitation as a demand. The fact that she had thrown her brother in the middle as a guilt trip was proof of that. "Well mom, I actually have plans tonight, maybe I…"

"Gail, I sure hope that you aren't refusing family dinner for going to The Penny. I know you couldn't have a date tonight, all of the men I set you up with have said you have not returned a single phone call of theirs."

Gail sighed. "Mom, did you ever think that I have a date with someone other than one of the guys you set me up with?"

She could almost hear the lack of satisfaction in her remark over the phone. "Well it is settled then. If this is not a man I have met yet, it would only be suitable if you brought your date with you. Dinner is at seven sharp. Don't be late." And with that the connection was broken.

She shut her locker, more aggressively than usual and dialed Holly's number.

"Hey, you off?" Holly asked eagerly.

"Yeah, I am about to leave. You haven't started diner yet have you?"

"No. Why what's wrong Gail?" There was no surprise that Holly could detect Gail's mood.

Gail was slow to answer. "I can't do dinner tonight. I know I promised but it looks like the Peck family is having dinner and apparently my presence is required."

She could tell Holly was disappointed. "Well I understand Gail. Do you think you will be able to come over after?"

"Oh, well I haven't told you the worst part. You have to come too. Well less specifically my date has to come, so congratulations, you have just been volunteered to a night of Peck family fun." Gail didn't attempt to hide her sarcasm or anger at the situation.

"Gail. I thought your mom didn't know about us." Holly was more than a little apprehensive over the situation.

"Oh don't you worry. She has no idea. This should be a blast. Dinner is at seven, so I will pick you up at 6:30?"

"…Okay."

"Okay then. Oh and Holly?"

"Yes?"

"I'm very truly sorry in advance. I will make this up to you. I promise." Gail was very serious about this part. She knew it was going to be a rough night if they were lucky. She really was going to owe Holly.


	24. Chapter 24

Holly sat glued to the passenger seat of Gail's car. They had been in the driveway for a couple minutes now, both women trying to bring themselves to get out of the vehicle. Holly was normally a very confident woman, but she knew what she could be walking into. Elaine Peck had a reputation that reached even her lab. Holly finally looked over to Gail who in turn opened her door. Holly followed suit and they both stepped out into the cold night. Just as they began to walk up the driveway another car pulled in behind them. Holly could feel a small amount of nervousness subside as Traci and Steve stepped out.

Seeing the look on his sister's face Steve walked up and put a hand on Gail's shoulder "Come on, let's all get this over with." He said nudging her forward slightly. Gail looked around for help from any of the others but they just looked right back at her. Gail knew that her mother knew about Traci and had met her at the station a few times but she was pretty sure that Steve hadn't subjected her to a family dinner yet. At least they would all be in this together.

Steve reached the door first and opened it wide to allow the others to enter. They were no less than a few steps in before a greeting was shouted towards them from another room. "Come on in, we are in the sitting room. Grab your drinks on the way in."

Gail glanced over to see how Holly was doing. She had never seen her this nervous before, except for the day of the shooting perhaps. Gail reached over and gave Holly's hand a quick squeeze before stepping forward and towards the 'sitting room' as her mother insisted upon calling it. Elaine Peck was dressed to the nines. She sat in a recliner reading a paper, her husband across from her on the couch typing away furiously on his phone, no doubt sending out some work related email.

Steve cleared his throat and pulled Traci into the room and formally introduced her to his parents. "Yes, detective Nash. Well, I'm glad Steven was finally able to find to bring you around to meet you properly. Bill, you know detective Nash?" Her tone wasn't quite as subtle as usual.

Bill glanced up from his phone and offered a distracted smile. "Ah, yes, nice to meet you detective Nash." His eyes immediately were back to his phone.

"See Steven, it isn't that hard to bring your girlfriend around to meet your parents. Did Gail come in with you, or is she late as usual?" Holly and Gail still stood in the same spot and Gail took a breath before moving further into the room.

"I'm here mom." Elaine glanced up from her paper turning to see her daughter standing next to another woman.

Elaine put the paper down and sighed loudly. "Gail, I thought you said you were bringing your date with you, not a friend? Or was that just your attempt at trying to get out of dinner again?"

Gail took hold of Holly's hand and the two walked over to where Traci and Steve were sitting. Holly couldn't help but notice the way Gail was shaking. "I did bring my date with me. Mom, dad, this is Holly, Holly these are my parents."

Elaine's face showed no sign of any reaction whatsoever. Bill had finally put his phone down and was looking at his daughter. Gail felt like she was about to throw up. After what felt like an eternity her mother finally spoke.

"Holly then?" She paused glancing at the woman who stood before her. "Do you have a last name Holly?" There was a definite bite in her tone.

"Stewart. Holly Stewart. We have actually met a few times. I'm the forensic pathologist." Holly still had Gail's hand in her own. Elaine continued to stare at her. She felt her mouth go dry.

"Hmm. Yes, I do believe we have met before. You are published, correct?" She still showed no sign as to how she was taking this news of her daughter introducing her girlfriend.

"Yes I have a few articles out currently, a couple scientific journals." Holly didn't blink.

Elaine stood up and walked over to her daughter and Holly. "Very well then. Nice to meet you Dr. Stewart." Holly was surprised to find a hand outstretched towards her. She shook the hand still trying to put the puzzle pieces together. "Glad to see Gail finally came to her senses and found someone with a little ambition."

With that she walked towards the kitchen, leaving the others in stunned silence. Bill finally got off the couch and offered his hand to Holly as well. "Nice to meet you dear." He offered a more genuine smile to her before following his wife into the kitchen. Holly glanced at Gail whose mouth had been wide open in shock for the better part of the interactions. Steve and Traci seemed just as surprised. The four of them remained rooted to their spots for another few minutes before Bill made an appearance again to announce dinner.

Dinner had been fairly uneventful so far. They had discussed the division of course, with some not so subtle hints that it was time that Gail applied for the next detective rotation. They had just started in on desert when Gail found she couldn't keep silent any longer.

"Are you seriously telling me that you don't have a problem with this?" Gail looked mad. Holly felt everyone at the table stiffen immediately. When no one said anything she continued. "You are really okay with me dating a woman?"

Elaine sighed heavily and placed her fork back down on her plate. She took her time to adjust her napkin before looking Gail directly in the eyes. "Gail, this comes as no surprise to me. Your father and I thought this would happen eventually. We are more surprised that it has taken you as long as it has to bring a woman home with you."

Gail looked somehow even more upset in her confusion. "What? Why?"

For the first time since she was a very young child she could see a hint of softness in her mother's eyes. "Gail honey, we have suspected that you were gay or at the very least interested in both men and women since you were in high school. So this is not at all surprising to either one of us. You are our daughter and we don't care if you date only men, or only women, or whatever, I just want to see you be successful in life and choose someone who pushes you to be the best. So to answer you Gail, no, I do not have a problem with you dating a woman as long as she has her priorities in order, which Holly seems to have."

With that she picked up her fork and continued on with her desert. The rest of the meal was finished in almost silence. They gathered back in the sitting room for coffee while Elaine questioned or more so interrogated Traci. It was weird for the tables to be turned with Gail and Steve. It was usually Gail that was the object of their mother's scrutiny. Holly and Bill had spent the rest of the evening discussing hockey while Gail sat awkwardly to the side. Around 10 they all said their goodbyes and made their way outside.

As soon as the door shut and the four of them were back out in the cold air Gail burst into laughter. The other three just stood in uncomfortable silence watching Gail try to regain herself. After a couple minutes Gail was able to gather herself enough to suggest they all go hit a bar somewhere. They all agreed to meet back at the Penny.

* * *

**_I know this is not the epic blowout that everyone wanted to see. This chapter had been written long before the last was updated so I plead ignorance._**


	25. Chapter 25

**_In case you missed it, chapter 24 was posted earlier. Don't miss out on the family dinner!_**

* * *

They had grabbed a tray of shots and found a booth in the corner. Each of the four of them had downed two shots a piece as soon as they were seated. It had been a very strange evening. Steve spoke first.

"What the hell just happened?" He looked like he was in a bit of shock.

Holly grabbed a shot glass and downed the liquor before replying. "I haven't the slightest idea, but I think it went a hell of a lot better than it could have."

They all agreed. Tracy took another shot and spoke finally. "Well the good news is, your parents don't seem to be fazed at all and they seem to like Holly. The bad news is, I got upstaged so now I'm pretty sure I need to bust every gang, grow-op, and drug ring to come close."

Everyone laughed at that and settled into a more comfortable mood. They talked for about an hour before deciding to call it a night. Since they had easily each had at least 5 shots, plus drinks with dinner Steve and Traci called a cab for themselves and Gail and Holly decided to walk back to Gail's.

Gail and Holly entered the apartment which was silent. If anyone was home they were in bed asleep. Gail locked the door and hung her and Holly's coats up. They grabbed some water bottles from the fridge and made their way into the bedroom. Gail sat down on the bed and removed her shoes. Holly began to undress and was about to grab some clothes from Gail's dresser and decided against it. She instead asked Gail if she could use her shower. Gail nodded and handed her a towel.

Holly turned the shower on and stepped into it. It had been a much unexpected evening. This morning she had woken up expecting to spend a quiet evening in her apartment with Gail relaxing. Instead she had gone to dinner with Gail, Steve and Traci and had met Gail's parents as her girlfriend. She was letting the stress wash off her when the door cracked open and a slight chill crept in.

She heard the door close and rustling. The shower curtain slid to the side and Holly turned to find Gail standing naked looking at Holly almost asking her for permission to enter the shower. Holly took Gail's hand and pulled her into the shower, closing the curtain behind the woman. They shared a delicate kiss before Gail pulled back. She looked very serious and almost afraid.

Holly started to say something to comfort Gail but she was cut off before she could even start. "Holly, I know that we haven't been together that long and this was a big step, meeting my parents and all. I just want to thank you for coming, and being so great. I can't thank you enough. I really owe you."

Holly smiled at her before placing an emotional kiss on Gail's lips. She looked her in the eyes and replied. "Gail, I'm glad that you brought me to meet your parents. I know that it was difficult for you. But I'm glad I got to go and I'm really glad that they were okay with this. With you and me, because I really want them to like me."

Gail smiled back. "They love you Holly. Well as close as they will ever get to loving anyone I could bring home. They are definitely impressed with you. I knew you being a giant nerd would come in handy at some point."

They both laughed at that last comment. In a more serious tone Gail continued. "But I am really glad they approve of you because I kinda want to keep you around." Holly had that smug look on her face that Gail for some reason just couldn't get enough of. "It looks like my whole family loves you." It was out of her mouth before she had a chance to realize what that implied.

Holly caught on though and raised an eyebrow. "Your _whole_ family?"

Gail swallowed. "Yes my whole family. I mean I know Steve loves you, and like I said before that's as much as anyone could ever hope to get out of my parents." She paused and looked at Holly, brushing a strand of wet hair out of her face. "And of course me."

"Gail are you trying to tell me that you are in love with me?" Holly was trying her best not to let herself get caught up in this in case that was not what Gail was implying. She glanced down not allowing herself to let Gail see the hope she had.

Gail removed one hand from Holly's and lifted it to her face, pulling Holly's gaze up to her own. "Holly? Look at me please."

Holly gave in and pulled her gaze back to Gail. She could feel her stomach twisting and her heart pounding. She knew she loved Gail, but she wasn't sure how deep in Gail was and she didn't think she could bear to hear Gail tell her she didn't love her.

Gail brought her lips to Holly's. It was tender, caring, comforting. They pulled out of the kiss and locked eyes once again. Gail took a deep breath and let it out. "Holly. I'm not_ trying_ to tell you anything. I _am_ telling you everything. I love you. I love you as a friend, as a girlfriend, as anything and everything you want me to be to you. Every day I see you I love you a little bit more, I fall in love with you all over again and…"

Holly cut her off with a sudden kiss. It was full of passion and need and most importantly trust. She regained herself and pulled back from Gail. "Gail, I love you too. I am madly, deeply in love with you. I have loved you since the batting cages actually. I knew that night that there was no way I couldn't love you. It would be impossible not to."

Even through the water from the shower Holly could see tears falling on Gail's cheek. She lightly brushed them away and whatever small barrier that was left to protect Gail's heart crumbled. In that moment she let Holly in completely. They held each other in the shower until the water started to get cold. Holly turned the water off and dried them both in the towel she had brought in. They kissed, holding on to each other with unbelievable intensity. There was no mistaking the desire between them.

Gail finally relented. "Take me to bed Holly." It was barely a whisper, but it was all Holly needed. She half dragged, half carried Gail back to the bedroom and slammed the door behind her.


	26. Chapter 26

The last few months had been full of demanding cases that kept both Holly and Gail busy most nights. At first they had struggled to find time for each other, neither trying to overstay their welcome by dropping in late at night. But they had missed each other too much for that. Holly finally realized that the current situation was not working when Dov opened the door in only his underwear and shot a glare at her through the doorway for the third time this week. She couldn't keep waking the whole apartment up every time she came over to Gail's and Gail had no shortage of issues trying to go to Holly's. Most nights she got off later than Holly and would reach her apartment after Holly had fallen asleep. Holly had a secure building so Gail had found herself standing in the cold a few nights trying to sneak in behind someone. It wasn't until last night that they both realized that it was not a good plan.

The night before Holly had suggested that they try to go back to only coming over when they were both awake to let the other in the building. Gail had thrown that out of the window quickly. She didn't want to spend the sometimes weeks it would end up being away from Holly at night. They had reached the point where they spent almost every night together, and she didn't want to go back. Gail had finally stormed out of the lab after the short argument they had found themselves in.

The next morning she woke up and went to grab herself some coffee. She was still a bit mad at Holly for the fight they had. She had the day off so she decided she would take the morning for herself and try to go talk to Holly after she was finished at work. Gail walked back into her bedroom and picked up her phone. Holly had left two voicemails ungodly early this morning. She sat on her bed and listened to the first one.

'Gail, it's Holly, obviously….I uh…can you just call me back?'

Gail had already been asleep when Holly had left the message; she was sure by now Holly would be at work. She deleted the message and moved on to the second.

'Hey, I guess you are asleep by now. Gail, I uh…I don't want to go to bed mad. Can you just call me? I just need to hear your voice. Please give me a call when you can.'

Gail felt a pang of guilt. They had made it a point early on not to go to bed mad at one another. They didn't fight often, hardly ever. Most of the arguments they had were short and they usually ended up laughing together by the end of it. This was the first time they had not resolved the issue, or at least made up enough to go to bed holding each other. Gail knew she shouldn't have stormed out of the lab; she was the one that owed Holly an apology.

She dialed Holly's number, getting her voicemail. She left a quick apology and offered to pick up some dinner for the two of them that night so they could have a discussion. She left her phone in her bedroom and went to grab a shower. When she came back she noticed Holly had called back and had left her a text message.

'It's okay Gail. Come over tonight around six. I'll cook. Grab some wine on your way though, I think I'm out. Love you.'

Gail text a quick response smiling. She finished getting dressed and stepped out of the apartment into the bright sun. She had an errand to run.

It was six on the dot when Holly buzzed Gail up to her apartment. The door had been cracked open for her. "Holly, you know I hate when you leave this open. Anyone could get in here."

Holly offered her that small smile she always gave when Gail lectured her about safety. She walked out from around the breakfast bar and took the wine from Gail and set it on the counter. They shared a hug and a quick kiss.

"I'm glad you came Gail. I'm sorry I upset you so much last night." Holly still had her arms around Gail's waist.

Gail pulled Holly into another hug. She placed a gentle kiss on her neck and took a step back to look at her girlfriend properly. "It's okay babe. I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have left like that. Besides I think I have a solution."

Holly's eyebrows rose slightly. Gail reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a key. "I talked to Dov and Chris this morning to make sure they were okay with it. So I made you a key. You can come over whenever you want now. That way if you get done first you can come over and wait for me, or if you come late you don't have to wake anyone."

Holly smiled and started walking away from Gail towards the master bedroom. Gail was confused. Holly returned quickly however holding up a key herself. "I made this for you last night actually. I couldn't sleep thinking that you weren't going to come sleep in my arms. I didn't like the thought of spending so much time away from you."

They both smiled and exchanged keys. "Holly did you really get me a key with skulls on it?"

"Yeah, you are a bit morbid. And look who is talking, this has a zombie on it." They both burst into laughter.

Dinner was great and they had curled up on the couch together watching an old movie. Suddenly Gail got off the couch and walked over to the dvd collection. She had on many occasions wondered about the movies she had found that first time snooping through the apartment.

"May I?" Gail asked. Holly hesitated before getting off the couch and putting the movie in. They went back to the couch and sat down. It was not at all what Gail had been expecting. It was definitely a documentary of sorts. You could tell wherever this was; it was not in North America, it looked like the Middle East. There were a couple people walking through an alleyway. The buildings were hardly standing anymore. It looked like something out of a war movie. There was a loud explosion and the camera shook violently. Gail could hear voices shouting to get under cover. The camera sifted hands and turned to face a woman. It was Holly.

Gail paused the DVD and looked over at Holly. "Hols, what exactly is this?"

Holly looked a bit apprehensive. 'You know how I told you that I spent some time traveling, doing research and stuff."

"Yeah, you said you spent a year traveling, but what exactly is this?"

Holly sighed. "Well I did travel to Asia, and Europe for research for a year, but about six months of that time was spent in Afghanistan. I was doing some research for a journal I was working on. I had to go to a war zone for it, so my team and I decided to film everything. Sometimes we weren't able to stay in one spot too long, so it helped with gathering information."

Gail was completely shocked. How had she never heard about this? She looked over at Holly. "I'm sorry; I didn't know that's what those were. We don't have to watch these Holly. I don't want to make you relive all of this."

Holly looked grateful. It was obvious she had no desire to rewatch these. "I think you need to see these though. I don't want to hide anything from you. But I don't want to be here while you watch this. I have some papers I need to finish, so just come find me when you are finished okay?"

Holly kissed Gail and walked into her study. Gail turned back to TV. There was a part of her that didn't want to see what was on these, but another part of her that knew Holly needed her to understand what happened. So she turned down the volume on the TV and hit play.

An hour and half later the door to Holly's study opened. Gail was standing in the doorway tears streaming down her face. She walked towards Holly quickly, saying nothing. Holly was pulled from her desk and her shirt was pulled over her head.

"Gail…?"

She received no response. Instead Gail dropped to her knees running her finger over a small scar near Holly's hipbone. Gail lost control and started crying even harder. Holly immediately knew why Gail was acting the way she was.

"Gail, it's okay. I am okay. I promise you." Holly was almost pleading with her.

It took a minute for Gail to get herself pulled together enough to respond. "Holly, this is far from okay. You were shot. I just watched you get shot!"

"Gail it wasn't that bad. I was okay. I am okay." Holly pulled Gail up to her level. She held the still crying woman in her arms. "I am right here with you okay babe. I am not going anywhere and I am okay."

Gail was shaking slightly. "Is this why you were so nervous that day in the interrogation room?"

There was a slight hesitation before Holly replied. "That may have had something to do with it."

Fresh tears fell from Gail's eyes to the fabric covering Holly's chest. "I didn't know. I'm sorry. I can quit if you want."

"That's not what I want. I know this is who you are, that will never change. I would rather you be out there protecting this city loving it, than be stuck behind some desk hating yourself and resenting me. Besides, at least you have a gun. I was the idiot that walked into a warzone unarmed." Holly tried to play it off as a joke, but it just made Gail cry more.

"I can't do this Holly. This isn't enough." Holly froze unsure of what Gail meant.

"Gail? Are you breaking up with me?" Holly felt her own tears threaten to fall.

Gail took a step back looking at Holly confused. "What? No. What I meant is…I need to know every day that you are okay. And I can't do this." Gail made a motion with her hands pointing to nothing and everything at the same time. "This sneaking in and out of each other's place in the middle of the night, it isn't enough anymore. I need to be able to be with you at night. To hold you make sure you are safe. I can't do that if we are always in a different place."

Holly was starting to understand. "So you want to move in together?"

"I know this is fast, and it's a lot to ask. I just don't like the thought of spending another night without you. I want to be able to come home to you after my shift. I don't want to come back to your place, or you come to my place. I want to go home to our place." The silence was overwhelming. "Holly say something."

Holly grabbed Gail and pulled her into an intense kiss. The tears that had been threatening had finally made their appearance. Holly's lips opened and her tongue demanded entrance into Gail's mouth. She felt Gail comply and they melted together. Holly finally pulled back, her hands still on the sides of Gail's face.

"Yes."


	27. Chapter 27

The following weeks had been hectic. Gail had spent all of her spare time slowly moving her things into Holly's place. It was Saturday morning when they had finally finished moving all of her stuff in. They sat on their bed exhausted.

"You stink Nerd." Gail shot over to Holly.

Holly let out a laugh. "I think that is you actually. Go shower before I change my mind about you."

They both laughed and walked towards their bathroom. After a not so quick shower together they found themselves rushing to get ready. Holly's parents were in town and Gail was finally going to meet them. They had picked a restaurant in town seeing as their place was a bit overcome with boxes at the moment.

"Holly. Are you sure they are going to like me? I'm not exactly meet the parents material." Gail was extremely nervous.

Holly finished buttoning up her shirt and walked over to Gail. "They will love you. And you are meet the parents material. Trust me." She quickly kissed her girlfriend and walked back over to the dresser to pull out a pair of jeans. Gail couldn't help herself. She never got tired of looking at Holly's body. She still got butterflies in her stomach every time they had sex.

* * *

They were the first to arrive at the restaurant. They had all decided on a casual place. It had been a grueling morning for them and she was sure her parents were tired after their flight. Better to just let everyone be comfortable and relaxed. Gail was fidgeting with her hands when she heard Holly's name behind her.

Holly stood up from the table pulling Gail up with her. She made her way over to her parents smiling from ear to ear. After they hugged and said hello Holly introduced them to Gail. Holly's parents were immediately kind and welcoming with her. It put her at ease.

"So Gail, Holly had told us quite a bit about you. You are a police officer?" Holly's mom asked.

"Yes ma'am, Toronto P.D." Gail offered.

Holly elbowed her slightly. "She is being modest. She actually just picked up detective last week." Gail felt herself blush as Holly's parents faces lit up as the congratulated her. Gail shot Holly a look, only half meaning it.

"That is fantastic dear. Looks like Holly has found herself a keeper. And please, call me Mary. And don't let Eric catch you calling him sir either. It will go to his head." Holly's mother finished with a laugh.

Their dinner went incredibly well. Gail seemed to hit it off with both of them. She found out her father had been a firefighter when he was younger. Gail couldn't help poking a little fun at him and vise-versa. It seemed that he had a similar sense of humor. Holly's mother was just the kindest woman she had ever met, except for maybe Holly. Gail normally hated it when people called her 'hun' or 'sweetheart' but for some reason it was comforting from her. She found that Holly's mom was actually a film maker herself. She told Gail about her documentaries and her adventures. It seemed this was the source of Holly's interest in films.

When they had finished dinner they parted ways and agreed to meet the next morning for brunch. Gail had agreed to ask her parents and brother to attend as well, rather reluctantly though. After a short phone call to her father in the car she turned her attention to Holly.

"Well. They are coming tomorrow, and he said that he would call Steve too. Maybe he will bring Traci with him. This might still be salvageable. The three of us can just get drunk off of mimosas." Gail wasn't entirely sure that she was joking about that last part.

Holly laughed loudly. "Knowing my parents, they would probably join us." Gail smiled at that thought.

They made their way up to their apartment and collapsed on the bed. Both women were beyond tired. Gail was barely able to pull herself back up enough to strip down and climb back into bed. Holly was almost asleep.

"Babe, at least take your shoes and bra off." Holly opened her eyes noticing that Gail was completely naked. She smiled and shook her head laughing to herself. She obliged though and stripped before climbing back in on her side. They were far too tired to get into anything tonight, but Holly still loved sleeping naked with Gail regardless.

They both woke up the next morning and dressed quickly. Holly finished up a few emails while Gail called Steve to ensure he was coming. Luckily he was bringing Traci. "Babe, Traci is coming too, so operation shitfaced is a go." Gail shouted towards Holly's office.

Holly laughed to herself and closed her laptop. She made her way out into the living room to find Gail waiting on the couch watching Nova. It hadn't taken long for Holly to notice how much a nerd Gail actually was. She watched more scientific documentaries than Holly did, and she had caught her on more than one occasion reading her medical journals. Not to mention Gail was a total Star Wars fan. She had at least two Star Wars t-shirts she would wear to bed sometimes, and a whole superhero comic book collection. Holly had found them while helping Gail pack up her closet at her old apartment.

Holly turned the TV off and grabbed her keys, ushering Gail out of the door. They took the stairs down to the parking garage and climbed into Holly's car. Holly had offered to drive; figuring Gail's joke about midmorning drunkenness might not actually be a joke.

Elaine had chosen the restaurant, a surprise to no one. It was one of those expensive polished places that felt the need to offer valet parking at 10am. Holly and Gail were waiting out front when Elaine pulled up tossing her keys over to the young woman in the valet vest, without so much as a glance. "Mom, where is dad at?"

"Oh, he went to pick Steve up. They have some boys' day out planned after brunch. He mentioned that Traci had the late shift last night so she was going to have to meet us here." Before either of the women in front of her could respond she made her way up to the podium to announce her arrival. "Table is ready dear, they can come find us."

Gail reluctantly followed her mother to the table, leaving Holly to wait out her parents. Bill and Steve arrived almost immediately with Traci close behind them. Elaine took the time to question Gail and feigned interest in her and Traci's conversations. It seemed like since Gail had made detective, Traci had less of an edge and was receiving a good deal of Peck scrutiny. Steve had finally come to her rescue after the ten minute mark of her interrogation. Tension was just starting to build when Holly and her parents made their way to the table.

Holly made the introductions around the table and they took their seats. Before conversation could pick up the waiter returned to take their drink orders. Holly's father ordered mimosas all around and offered Gail a wink across the table. It seemed that Holly had shared the plans with her father on the not so covert operation shitfaced. Gail couldn't help but like him even more.

Brunch had gone fairly smooth. Everyone had seemed to get on fine and Bill and Eric had completely hit it off. They had been discussing hockey non-stop for the past twenty minutes. With their plates cleared, conversations had sparked between everyone. Except for Elaine. She had found herself looking on as her family and Holly's blended so effortlessly. Gail had noticed earlier and taken a small amount of satisfaction from it, but she couldn't help but pity the woman slightly.

"Mom, why don't you tell Mary about your garden? She was just mentioning hers to me." Gail couldn't believe she was offering this lifeline to her mother. The words had barely made it out of her mouth when she felt Holly's hand reach out for her knee, offering a small squeeze. She glanced over to her girlfriend and could see Holly smile at the kind gesture.

Elaine lost no time rambling on about her pristine garden. Mary was not so much a part of a conversation but a lecture. Gail looked over apologetically at the woman who gave a slight chuckle. She shot Gail a wink as Elaine continued with her gardening tutorial. Gail turned back to Holly who could not hide the smile enveloping her face. She whispered a quick 'I love you' to Gail before turning her attention back to the table.

By 11:30 Traci announced that she had to go pick up Leo and they all decided to call it a morning. Steve kissed her quickly and the two shared a knowing look. Elaine made her rounds before excusing herself to more pressing police business no doubt. The others headed towards the front of the restaurant and Gail made a quick grab for her brother.

"Steve, what was that about?" He smiled but revealed nothing. After a little more pestering from his sister and the full knowledge of her relentlessness he gave in.

"This isn't the place Gail. Meet me for drinks sometime next week, yeah?" He offered her a slight smile before heading back towards his father.

Gail was suspicious of what it was he was hiding but let it go for the time. She went to find Holly who was saying her goodbyes to her parents. Gail joined the tail end of their conversation, finding that she felt far more comfortable with the group than she could have ever imagined. Eric shook her hand again and suggested next time the four were all in town they go for drinks, and Mary pulled Gail into a hug and kissed her lightly on the cheek. Normally a gesture of the sort would not fly with the youngest of the Peck clan, but Gail found it oddly warm and familiar, as if she had known the woman her whole life. They parted ways.

Once in the car Holly took Gail's hand beaming. "They absolutely love you. My mother said I found a keeper and if my dad wants to go drinking with you then I think you are in. They said next time I come out to see them I have to bring you with me."

"Good." Gail couldn't help her own smile. "I really like them too. They weren't as nerdy as I was expecting. You are just weird I guess." Holly laughed rather loudly and started the car. They still had the rest of the day to themselves and she knew just where to take Gail.


	28. Chapter 28

The past four months had gone by incredibly fast. Holly and Gail had found that living together was surprising a lot easier than they had imagined. Work kept them fairly busy but they always found time for each other. So far it had been easy sailing. Until this morning. They had woken up naked, wrapped up in each other's arms, sunlight drifting in through the window. Gail had made French toast while Holly finished a report that was due before work. They had arrived at work slightly late, partially due to Gail forgetting her keys, and partially due to the rather heated make out session in the parking lot.

Holly's day had started out fairly normal. With her report in she was able to focus on a double homicide that had just rolled into her morgue. She had her favorite lab assistant back from vacation and her friend Remy had finally cheered up for the first time since she left her boyfriend. It was all in all a good morning so far. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and smiled seeing Gail's name pop up on her caller ID. Yes, the morning was fantastic, and now she got to have just a little extra Gail time.

"Holly…?" She immediately knew something wasn't right.

"Gail, what happened, are you okay?"

"Yes, well no. I mean physically yes I'm fine. I just have some bad news. Can you meet me for lunch today?" Gail sounded nervous. Holly allowed herself to calm down slightly knowing that Gail was not hurt at least.

"Yeah babe, of course. Just text me when you are able to go and I'll come pick you up at the station okay?"

"Okay. I will." Gail sounded so small, almost like a child. It made Holly feel really uneasy.

"Okay, I will see you soon then." They hung up the phone and Holly knew that whatever her day had been, it had just turned.

* * *

Gail text Holly again at noon. She sat upstairs with Steve, neither of them talking much. Ever since Steve had spilled the beans about his engagement to Traci, they had been spending more time together, but today was strictly business. When she felt her phone buzz in her pocket she pulled herself off the desk and made her way down to the parking lot. Holly was standing to the side of her car. Gail could see her fidgeting, looking around her, almost as if she expected to find the answer to a nagging question just floating in the air.

"Hey." Gail placed a small kiss on her girlfriend's cheek and nodded towards the car. Holly greeted her back and slid back into the driver's seat. As soon as both the doors had closed an eerie silence fell around them. Gail found herself at a loss for words.

Holly however did not. She had a nagging sensation that she knew exactly what Gail's bad news was.

"How long?" Her steering wheel had become oddly fascinating all of a sudden.

Gail took a deep breath in and took Holly's hand in hers. "Not as bad as I thought it might be when they explained the op. It is only a couple months. They had originally intended it to be longer, but I guess they got someone to put in a good word so we kinda hit a fast track."

Holly knew it could be longer but she still didn't like the idea. "When are you leaving?"

"Three days, maybe four. We are waiting for a couple of things, so we have a bit of notice." Gail couldn't stand not to see Holly's face any longer and turned her head towards her. "Holly, I know this sucks, like really fucking sucks, but it's not a really dangerous op, it's not too long and I have the best partner I could ask for. I promise I will be safe. I promise I will come home to you."

Holly gave in to her emotions as tears found their way down her cheeks. She gingerly placed a hand on each side of Gail's face and kissed her. Both of their emotions were running high and it was difficult to regain control of the moment. Holly finally pulled herself together slightly. "Who is your partner?"

"Oliver. He leaves tonight and then I join him in a few days."

Holly smiled genuinely. She knew Oliver would do whatever it took to keep Gail safe. She was like a daughter to him. She really couldn't have asked for a better partner. "Good. At least there is some good news out of this then." Gail laughed quietly and pulled Holly into a deep hug.

"You know I love you right? And I would never do anything to jeopardize that. And neither would Ollie. He is going to make sure we both come home safe. And you will have Celery to keep you company. Plus I have a couple days off to get situated. I have to be back by Thursday in case I leave then though." Holly smiled knowing Gail had a point. She was not in this alone at least. She had Celery, Gail would have Oliver, and they had a little bit of time. "Well I guess I better call my boss and tell him I am sick."

"What, why? It's already afternoon Holly. Go finish your day and I will go get my errands done. But you better be home on time. We have some memories to make. I got to make sure I have something to think about late at night." With that Gail gave Holly a wink and stepped out of the car. Holly couldn't help but feel a little better already.


	29. Chapter 29

Gail text Holly around 4pm to let her know she had briefing she had to attend. It would probably be a bit late before she got home. Holly decided to use this time to get as much work done as she could. She wanted to spend as little time as possible in the lab while she still had Gail at home. It was almost midnight when she finally left the lab. After a long and emotionally draining day Holly was looking forward to going home and curling up in Gail's arms. She expected that Gail would already be passed out when she got home but was still a bit disappointed not to find her waiting on the couch.

Trying not to wake Gail, Holly crept through the kitchen quietly. She sighed to herself hearing music coming from their bedroom. Gail had a terrible habit of falling asleep with the T.V. on. Holly grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and stepped inside the room. The bathroom door was cracked slightly, a dim light emitting from the opening. Holly made her way towards the door and pushed it open slowly.

* * *

Gail had arrived home an hour before Holly. She was exhausted. She knew Holly expected her to be asleep when she would finally get home but she couldn't help herself. Gail cleaned up the apartment, something she rarely did without the insistence of Holly, and made her way to the bathroom. She had stopped by the store on the way home and picked up a few items she would be needing, but couldn't help herself as she passed candles on her way out. The new candles sat alight on the counter tops and edges of the tub. She had just finished the final touches when she recognized the sound of the front door being unlocked. Gail climbed in the tub and waited for Holly.

* * *

As tired as both women were, this moment had been worth it. A stunned Holly found herself being beckoned inside by a freshly disrobed Gail. Holly quickly shed her own clothing and with a helping hand from Gail made her way into the water. The two of them sat in silence, taking each other's beauty in. Holly's hand found Gail's below the water.

The candlelight was playing tricks with Holly's eyes. She sat across from Gail taking in each line and curve of her face. Shadows jumped across her features, creating the illusion of constant motion. The music permeating from the phone on the counter seeming to magically understand her. The lyrics of each song corresponding to every conflicting emotion playing through her mind. The moment felt surreal. Holly needed to know she was awake, that this woman across from her was still here, still within her reach.

Gail could see the worry, the fear, the admiration, the hope, everything pulsing through Holly. Knowing that her girlfriend needed more in this moment Gail pulled her in close. The two held each other tightly, needing the moment not to end. Gail finally pulled back enough to look Holly in the eyes. She could see a million thoughts racing through Holly's mind, her eyes gave her away.

"Holly shut up." It was barely a whisper.

A look of confusion swept over the brunette. "Gail, I didn't say anything."

"Maybe not with your lips, but I can almost hear you thinking."

Holly looked a bit sheepish. "I'm sorry Gail. I just need to take this in. Everything. I need as much as I can get before you are gone. I just want to make it last."

"Me too." Gail tightened her grip on Holly and pulled her close again. She was content to stay in this moment forever. Just her and Holly lying together in this room. She didn't want to move a muscle. Holly on the other hand couldn't help herself. She lifted her head from Gail's shoulder and placed her lips on Gail's briefly. Gail heard herself draw in a deep breath and felt a fire ignite her. Giving into the sudden desire she pulled Holly back into her, kissing her fully.

Neither woman would have been able to say how long they lay in the tub kissing each other, hands roaming. It felt like a year and like a minute at the same time. Holly was the first to relent pulling Gail up and out of the water. They made their way back into the bedroom, never releasing their holds. Gail felt the back of her knees hit the bedframe behind her. Holly easily lifted Gail up slightly, depositing her on the edge of the bed. The two pulled back, each taking lingering looks at the other's body. Gail reached up for Holly only to find herself suddenly on her back, Holly straddling her, pinning her hands on the bed above her.

Holly watched as Gail bit her lower lip, passion emanating from her eyes. Holly lowered her upper body slightly, bringing her lips to Gail's collarbone. She felt the velvety skin beneath her come alive as she kissed her way up her girlfriend's neck. She paused smiling to herself before letting her tongue lightly pass over Gail's earlobe. Gail stirred below her. She knew what this did to Gail and loved it. Going back for a second time, Holly found herself nipping slightly at the exposed skin on Gail's neck.

Gail couldn't stifle her moan. Holly was killing her. She struggled attempting to bring her hands off the bed, but Holly's grip was relentless. Holly raised herself up slightly, a rather smug look playing across her face. She had a wild glint in her eyes. Gail tried to release her hands again, only to be met with a slight shake of the head from Holly. Gail realized Holly was not going to relinquish control. Gail felt her girlfriend sink down onto her again. She felt the sting of Holly's teeth against her, not lightly like before, but with pressure and drive. "Oh fuck, Holly."

She instantly felt warmth spread across her lower abdomen. Holly sat back, biting her bottom lip and breathing heavily. Gail glanced down to find the source of the sudden heat, noticing that it was located in same spot Holly was straddling her. Holly had release her hands and she found them drawn to the same spot.

Holly was aware she had become instantly wet by Gail's reaction, and apparently Gail had noticed too. Holly watched as Gail slid her fingers across her now slick skin. Holly was almost embarrassed at how quickly she had become so turned on. That feeling passed immediately when Gail pulled her hand back, looked Holly straight in the eyes and ran her tongue seductively across the tips of each finger. "Holy shit, Gail."

Gail smirked and threw Holly off of her and climbed quickly out of bed. "Hey, where are you going?" Gail heard the desire in Holly's question.

"I'll be right back; I have a surprise for you." She offered Holly a wink and walked over to the dresser. She had made an additional stop on her way home that night, wanting to try something a little new. She had been full of confidence when she had made her purchase, but couldn't help but feel nervous now. She slowly turned towards Holly with her hands behind her back. "Promise you won't laugh, or freak out?"

"Gail, come on, I'm not going to freak out. I can't promise I won't laugh though, you can be a little strange at times." Holly was already chuckling slightly.

Gail sat back on the bed next to Holly. After a brief hesitation she removed the object from behind her back and handed it to Holly. She was surprised that Holly's eyebrow arched up and that sideways grin she loved more than any other find its way onto her face.

"A strap-on?" Holly looked up seeing Gail eye her nervously. "Are you sure babe?"

Gail hesitated again. "Yeah. I mean we don't have to, I just thought you might want to try it."

Holly pulled her into an intense kiss. "I most definitely want to try it. Honestly I've wanted to ask you for a while now."

"Wait, seriously?"

"Uh, yeah." Holly laughed. "I mean come on Gail. You are fucking hot and I'm madly in love with you. Of course I want to."

Gail's tongue slipped out to moisten her lips. She looked down at the object of their conversation, feeling a little silly now for being so anxious about it. She had been toying with the idea for a long time, so why was she surprised that Holly had been as well. She knew that part of her nerves weren't due to the object in question, but more to what she wanted to do with it. Sure Holly was interested in it, but Gail still felt a bit of apprehension as she voiced her next thought. "Holly, I want to use it on you."

This did seem to take Holly by surprise. She shot Gail a questioning glance. "Really now?" Gail couldn't quite tell how Holly felt about this.

"If you don't want me to we don't have to. I mean...it's not a big deal or anything right? Like I am sure you have done it before and everything, so I don't know. "

"Actually I haven't. Well to be more specific I have never had anyone use one on me before. So…you would actually be my first." Holly's confession made Gail somehow feel less nervous. For once Gail was not the only one new to this. Holly was right here in somewhat of the same boat with her. She was glad that they had something they could share together. Assuming Holly agreed to it.

"So…I am not quite sure if that means yes or no." Gail threw out attempting to sound nonchalant.

"Well technically you haven't exactly asked me a question." Holly joked.

Gail shot her one of her token icy glares. When she realized Holly wasn't going to give in so easily she reluctantly asked the question. "Holly, do you want me to?"

Holly pulled her closer, into an embrace. She kissed Gail lightly on the cheek and spoke quietly in her ear. "Baby, I want you to do anything and everything you want to me. So to answer your question, yes. Yes I most certainly do."

With that, Gail kissed Holly, hard. She wrapped one arm around her waist and the other found her hand. Holly gladly handed their new toy over to Gail and pulled the woman on top of her.


	30. Chapter 30

**_Thanks for the reviews as always, sorry to disappoint though, this does not pick up immediately after the last chapter. I will make it up to you all later though ;)_**

* * *

Gail had been undercover for a week now. Oliver had left first. He had come highly recommended to the gang by his C.I. Anthony. It hadn't taken long for them to pull him fully into their daily operations. Gail had followed a couple days later pretending to be his niece that had left Montreal and was down on her luck. Oliver had been spending most nights out by the docks, meeting with Chuck and Carlos. Gail had been left in the shitty apartment to fend off boredom alone. Today was different however. Last night Oliver had convinced the gang to make use of his 'otherwise worthless' niece. They had finally agreed and so she now found herself in a warehouse unloading a shipment.

She and Oliver knew very little at this point about what exactly was in the crates. Their briefing had been questionable at best. All guns and gangs had been able to supply them with was a list of possibilities. They knew that the gang was moving illegal drugs into the country, and most likely weapons, but there had been a rumor about counterfeiting too. Anthony said he knew nothing about it, but the look in his eye when they addressed the issue said otherwise.

There was already enough evidence to lock away most of the gang from drug charges, but she and Oliver were mostly there to look into the counterfeiting and weapons. If the division was going to take them down, they wanted to make sure they knew exactly what they were involved with. Oliver and Gail had both assured their girlfriends that it was a less dangerous operation than usual but both knew what they stood to lose if anything went wrong. The plan was simple, infiltrate the gang, learn what they are shipping, get the details on the shipments and set up a bust. Oh and don't die.

Carlos strolled over to Gail shooting her one of his looks. She knew that he was interested in her, but luckily Oliver was able to fend off most of his advances. She may be the 'otherwise useless' niece, but she was still family, and that made her off limits. "You almost done there, honey? We need to get out of here soon."

Gail did her best to offer up her best attempt at a genuine smile and reply with a simple yes. "Good girl." His response came with a smack on the butt and a wink. Gail felt her stomach turn in disgust. In an effort to avoid his return she sped up her pace. Shortly after all of the crates had been transferred to the delivery vans and they closed up shop.

Her and Oliver made their way back to the apartment. As soon as they were inside Gail slumped down on the couch. "Chinese?" Oliver nodded at her and called in their order. The benefits of having each other as a partner, is they both new exactly what the other liked to eat. Gail turned on the TV and they sat in comfortable silence watching some new show.

Their pizza arrived and the two of them wolfed it down while talking about what had happened that day. Gail was placing the leftovers in the fridge. "That guy is a creep. I swear if he touches my ass one more time I might just stab him in the face."

"Oh yeah, that would go over smoothly. But seriously, I'll tell him to back off again."

Gail sighed knowing that Oliver would if she asked him to, but she knew she just needed to get over it. "Well how about this. When we bust these guys, what if he just happens to get shot in the nuts. Just once, no big deal." With that Oliver busts up laughing.

"Brilliant. I think we might be able to manage that." They return to the couch and finish the show. By 10pm both are struggling to keep their eyes open so they part ways. Gail notices Oliver pull a necklace that had been covered by his t-shirt up and over his head. Gail wasn't sure but she would bet that it was some sort of protection charm from Celery. She felt herself smile at the thought of the two of them.

Gail climbed into her bed and tried her best to fall asleep quickly. If this night would be like any of the others before it would likely end up with her tossing and turning for hours. It just didn't feel right without Holly in bed next to her. She looked out the window at the moon and closed her eyes.

* * *

Holly woke with a start. She had been dreaming about her and Gail again. Not the kind of dreams she had wished they would be either. For the fourth night in a row she had been back in the desert with her team. They had been moving from building to building documenting bodies. Each time they would enter the last house and hear a blast. She would rush up the broken staircase and into a blinding light. Suddenly she would find herself on a busy street, looking for someone but she didn't know who. After searching every shop a man would find her. It was Steve. He would never look her in the eye. They would walk into an alleyway and through a set of doors and she would be transported to a hospital. The same hospital she had sat with Gail in many months ago. Steve would lead her through the waiting room, hallways, and finally into a patient room. And every morning Holly found herself startled awake with the searing image of Gail's body lying dead in a hospital bed, a gunshot wound to the head.

Holly knew she needed to get a hold of herself. She was exhausted by her lack of sleep. What little sleep she was getting was plagued by these nightmares and it was starting to take its toll. Gail had been gone for a little over two weeks now. She still had at least two months to go. There was no way she would make it that long if she couldn't find a way to combat this. She slid out of bed and hurried through her shower. After a quick breakfast of toast and coffee she left the apartment.

Work was busy at least. She was able to keep herself fairly focused and it helped to have something to keep her mind off of Gail. Chris had stopped by for lunch a few times, and Traci had been delivering samples herself instead of sending a rookie. She appreciated them more than she could say. Celery had been her backbone though. The two had met for dinner almost every night, taking turns cooking and going out on the weekends. She felt slightly guilty knowing that she and Gail had a few days alone before she left, whereas Oliver had only a few hours.

The days were bearable between work and meeting with Celery, but the nights were terrible. Each night she would return to the apartment. She would curl up on the couch with a book only to find that she could not focus and finally climb into bed. After hours of tossing and turning she would finally fall into an uneasy sleep only to be awoken each morning by the final visions of her nightmares. She really needed a break from this routine and she vowed that today would be different.

After a quick lunch she called Chris. They agreed to meet up for drinks after work and then go back to their apartment and play some video games. Holly finished the rest of her work by 5pm and headed to The Penny. It had been a while since she had been here but it was comforting to think of the times her and Gail had come here. She quickly found the boys at the bar and ordered them a round of beers.

They had quickly gotten extremely drunk. Luckily Chloe had just gotten off shift had had swung by the bar to pick them up. After struggling to all make it inside the apartment quietly Dov ran straight for the kitchen. "Tequila shots!" Holly walked into the kitchen and threw a joking punch into his arm before grabbing the bottle.

"Fuck shots." She said and drank straight from the bottle before handing it back to him. Dov followed suit and handed the bottle to Chloe. Seeing that she was the only sober one left, she decided to catch up quickly and gulp down an impressive amount. They grabbed some chairs and cards and sat at the table, deciding to abandon the video game console in favor of drinking games.

Chloe turned out to be absolutely hilarious drunk. She let her rather perky and upbeat self run off for the night and turned into a kind of crazy and perverted jokester. Holly could only imagine that if Gail had been here to see it, she would have changed her perspective on the woman. At some point the festivities had moved into the living room before Dov and Chloe made their exit into the bedroom. Chris and Holly had stayed up a while longer before they both fell asleep on the couch.

Holly had woken with a searing headache and a rather unpleasant wave of nausea. It had been a crazy night, but at least she hadn't been woken up by nightmares. She couldn't be sure if it was thanks to the copious amounts of alcohol they had consumed or if it had something to do with having people who care about her around. She pulled herself reluctantly off of the couch and went to scour the apartment for some medicine. Chris woke suddenly shouting about squirrels, sending Holly into a fit of laughter she regretted instantly. Her head was still throbbing.

Chris looked even worse though. He had somehow ended up on the floor and was looking extremely confused. After finally gathering himself up he made his way into the kitchen. She started the coffee pot as he began to prepare a hangover breakfast. Chloe made her way from the bedroom shortly after and refused to speak to anyone in anything above a whisper. Dov was the only one who seemed to escape the headache, but the sound of him being sick more than made up for it.

They ate in silence and Holly helped Chris clean up before finally heading home. This was the part she hated the most. The long drawn out days where she didn't have to work. She tried her best to fill them with visits to friends and errands but it was never enough to pull Gail out of her mind. Knowing she had no energy to go out today she laid down on the couch giving in to what she knew was going to be an emotionally rough day.


	31. Chapter 31

_**I know this is short, but I plan to update again tomorrow morning with a longer chapter.**_

* * *

It was pitch black outside when Gail was woken up by Oliver. She must have slept through her alarm. Oliver tossed a mostly empty box of pizza at her and left her to get dressed. This was what made Oliver so awesome. He knew she hated being woken up, so he had brought food with him to help placate what would otherwise be a very unhappy Gail. They had been working the operation for a little over two months at this point and had figured out each-other's pet peeves. She stuffed a slice of cold pizza in her mouth as she pulled on some jeans. She emerged from her room to find Oliver on the phone.

"Yeah, okay. I know they told us about Frankie but I am not sure that was everything. Right, but I don't think we will get much more out of them for a bit. Yeah, look we gotta go. Uh huh. Okay. Bye." He tucked the phone into his pocket and glanced up at Gail. "Okay partner, you ready?"

"Was that Steve?" Gail asked through a yawn.

"Yeah, he says you still owe him a beer." Gail laughed. It wouldn't surprise her at all that Steve would have said that. "Okay, so you know where you are meeting Chuck right?" Gail nodded. "Okay, I'll wait here for Carlos to drop off the keys and I will meet you there soon."

"Okay Ollie. Don't forget about the placements though." She reminded him as she headed towards the door. He nodded in return as she made her way out.

Chuck was waiting for her out front and she climbed into the cab of his truck. They drove to the dock in silence, both apparently still waking up. This was the first shipment that she and Oliver would be running without Carlos. He had some sort of other business to attend to. Anthony was going with him so there was a chance that they might be able to find out what the business entailed.

They pulled up to the dock and got out of the truck. There were about a dozen men and a couple women standing around chatting. Gail walked up and began giving directions. Chuck, now pulling up next to her in a fort lift handed her the checklist. Gail had been told that she needed to verify that they pulled the correct cargo and make sure the others were working. Oliver was supposed to show up shortly after with the delivery truck.

They made quick work and loaded the truck ahead of schedule. Carlos and Anthony showed up right as they were finishing. He pulled Oliver aside for a few minutes and left again. Oliver gave Gail a knowing look and went back to the truck. As soon as everything was loaded they climbed in the truck and Chuck began giving orders to the workers to clean up the dock and wait to hear about the next shipment. Oliver put the truck in gear and headed towards the warehouse.

The handoff went smoothly and they returned to the apartment. After the first time Carlos had come to the apartment Gail and Oliver began doing sweeps to ensure nothing was bugged before they discussed anything. Once they cleared all the rooms they settled on the couch to discuss the day. Gail's account of the day did not take long. She hadn't seen much of anything going on. Just the usual crates and workers, nothing worth noting really. Oliver's account was mostly the same until he came to the short conversation he had with Carlos.

"So bad news or good news first?" He asked.

"Good news I guess."

"Okay good news is I know when the next major shipment is. Carlos said he isn't ready for us to completely run one this big so he will be there with some other guys. Apparently this is the real deal here. We are talking cocaine, and I mean a lot of it, machine guns, explosives, and I quote 'a little something extra'. The bad news is the shipment is not until another week and a half so we pretty much have to sit tight until then. He wants us to run one more small load on Tuesday, by then they should know the exact schedule of the big shipment so we can set up the bust." Oliver looked rather pleased with himself.

"Nice! I'm thinking this calls for a celebration. Let's go get some cake." Gail shot off the couch pulling Oliver up with her.

"Cake, yes. And coffee." Oliver looked just as excited.

"Cake and coffee it is, come on old man."


	32. Chapter 32

Holly pulled her phone from her pocket. "Chris, what's up?"

"Hey Holly, are you busy this weekend?"

She had planned on going to the gym and that was about it. "Uh, no."

"Okay good. Do you want to come camping?"

"When?"

"We would leave Saturday morning."

Holly laughed slightly. "You mean tomorrow morning? How early are we talking here?"

"Like nine."

Holly paused and considered her options. She was hoping Gail would be coming home soon; this might be one of her last weekends to herself. Who was she kidding; she was going crazy without Gail. "That sounds great Chris."

She could audibly hear Chris' mood lighten. "Excellent. I'll swing by and pick you up in the morning."

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Well at least she wasn't going to be stuck in the apartment all weekend thinking. Maybe some fresh air would be good for her. She turned back to her work, eager to finish it quickly.

Holly woke early the next morning and threw a bag together. She was watching last night's hockey highlights when she got a call from Chris saying he was out front. She locked up and made her way out to his car.

"Hey Chris, thanks for inviting me." Holly tossed her bag in the back and climbed in next to him.

"Yeah of course. I am just glad you could come. We have to pick up Dov and Chloe from the apartment real quick and then we can head out. Traci, and Andy are meeting us there." Chris put the car in gear and started down the street.

"Oh you and Dov are in over your heads. You really planed a trip with four women and only two of you?" Holly couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah well, none of the other guys could make it. Work and stuff. Steve and Celery were going to come, but with Sam not really able to join yet Steve decided not to; they have some boys night in the city planned, and Celery mentioned something about forgetting she was teaching a class."

They picked up Chloe and Dov and made a quick stop to pick up supplies and headed out of the city. They arrived in record time, setting up camp quickly. Andy and Traci had gone straight for the alcohol and were already two beers in by that point. They all decided on a hike before the rest of the gang submitted to booze.

Holly was glad she came. It was a gorgeous day. It wasn't too hot out anymore, but not too crisp where the night would be uncomfortable. If they had waited even another two weeks, it might have been a different story though. The group chatted amongst themselves as they made their way through the woods. She had spent a lot of time with Traci, and Chris, but she was really glad she got to finally spend some time with some of Gail's other friends. If only Gail was here. Actually scratch that. If Gail was here, Holly was sure she would have packed for a year and managed all the wrong shoes. At this point in the hike, Gail would most likely be ridding piggy back. Regardless, Holly missed her.

They got back to camp an hour later and everyone gave in and hit the cooler. Dov had brought an acoustic guitar much to Chloe's surprise and everyone else's dismay. After only a few chords, the group decided that it no one was quite drunk enough to listen to that. Chris snuck off to the car and brought out all of the paintball equipment he had snuck with him. That was actually a welcomed surprise.

They spend the greater part of the afternoon hiding behind trees and boulders splattering each other with paint. The first game Andy had been the last man standing, which of course brought on demands for a rematch. The second game had been men vs. women, Chris and Dov being far outnumbered were picked off quickly. The last game had ended up with Holly, Chloe, and Chris vs. Dov, Andy, and Traci. It had been a long drawn out battle. Dov had been hit within the first three minutes and had immediately commenced sulking. Traci and Chloe were hit seconds apart leaving only Andy to fend off Holly and Chris.

Andy had not been spotted in almost 10 minutes and Holly and Chris were in a huddle making a plan. Right as they finally had it down Chris was hit right in the ass. Holly threw herself to the ground, spotting Andy duck behind a group of rocks. There wasn't much coverage between the two of them and Holly knew Andy had the upper hand. She chanced a glance for Andy, narrowly missing getting hit in the chest with the barrage of paint balls that shot her way. This plan was not going to work.

Andy finally had Holly pinned. She could see the fabric of Holly's long sleeve t-shirt poking out from behind a large tree. She carefully took aim and fired off at her arm. She saw it make contact and hoisted up her paintball gun in the air, declaring her victory. That's when she felt herself get hit a single time in the shoulder blade. She turned around and saw Holly standing behind her. The two women raised their masks up. Holly had a shit-eating grin plastered to her face, Andy a look of total confusion.

Andy was not confused by being hit after she won as much as the fact that Holly stood before her in her jeans, bra and the paintball vest she had on earlier. Andy turned back towards the Holly she had shot only to see Holly's shirt on the ground, filled with leaves. She had to give it to Holly. Andy knew she had the upper hand in this game. She had her training, and she was an excellent marksman, but Holly had outwitted her. Holly grabbed her shit off the ground and shook the leaves out. Andy offered out her hand to the woman once she was fully clothed again and gave her that look that said "I lost, you won, and I am admitting it completely."

The rest of the gang had seen the final showdown and were all exchanging money, paying off the bets they have of course made. It was getting dark at this point so they made their way over to the fire Dov had started. They spent the rest of the evening drinking beers and roasting marshmallows. After Dov had just about set his pants on fire and the rest of the gang mocked him for a good 20 minutes he threatened to break out the guitar again. With everyone comfortably drunk, no one objected. What followed could only be best described as a horrendous attempt at a jam session. Dov on guitar, Andy on rock and stick drums, and Chris on vocals. After the second "Don't Stop Believing" they all decided enough was enough and called it a night. Chis went off to his tent, Chloe and Dov to theirs, and the other three women to the one they would share.

The next morning was great. They all woke surprisingly early. Holly and Andy decided to take a shot at some early morning fishing while the rest of the crew packed up and made breakfast. They had enjoyed another short hike and left around noon. They said their goodbyes and climbed into cars and headed out. Shortly after leaving the more remote mountain area Chris, Dov and Holly's phones all shot off text message and voicemail alerts. They had been out of the service range since early yesterday. They had all expected maybe a message or two but not this. Between the three of them it would be safe to say there were over two dozen alerts in from early that morning.

No one had to say anything. Chris pulled the car over while they all started checking messages. After just the first message Holly looked up to see both Dov and Chris looking at her in horror. Holly shakily lifted her own phone to her ear and listened to her first message.


	33. Chapter 33

_**Sorry for the cliffhanger last chapter. Hopefully a little bit of info on the situation will ease the wait for the next chapter. Thanks so much to everyone who has been following this story through! Especially those of you who have been leaving reviews. You guys are the best!**_

Holly pushed through the crowd of officers in the waiting room. It had taken them two hours to get to the hospital since hearing the messages and she was at an all-time freak out high. Before she made it all the way through Steve had found his way to her side and pulled her out of the crowd.

"Steve, what…what happened? Where is Gail, is she going to be alright? Oh God, what about Oliver? Where is Celery? I don't understand. Where are they?"

"Holly, breathe. I will explain it all, but I am worried you are going to hyperventilate and pass out. You need to calm down, okay?" Holly nodded her head so Steve continued. "Look, let's find somewhere quiet and get you some water okay?" Once again only met by a nod, Steve led Holly back towards the door, stopping to get her some water.

They sat down on a bench while Holly drank the water. When she finished and handed Steve the cup he began. "Something went wrong, we aren't sure what exactly. No one knows what happened. Oliver and Gail were both brought in by ambulance. They are both in surgery now. We aren't sure who called 911 yet, they did not leave a name and they used a burner phone. We have our guys out now trying to figure out what went down. The more we know, the more information we can give to the doctors."

Holly still had not said a word. Steve wasn't sure she had actually heard a thing. He took Holly's hand in his and continued anyways. "From what they can tell Oliver has a concussion, and couple broken bones, no serious internal bleeding, just some minor cuts and bruises, a couple stitches. Gail is a bit worse. She also has a concussion. She got off easier than Oliver with broken bones, just two broken fingers and a couple cracked ribs. But she has some bad internal bleeding. They took Gail into surgery to try and stem the bleeds but it was pretty bad so we aren't sure yet. Oliver should be okay; he lost a lot of blood from his leg. It was an open break so they had to take him to surgery for that, but he looks pretty good as long as there are no complications."

Holly had heard what Steve had told her. It had sounded like she had been underwater for the whole explanation though. This was too surreal. She was feeling a million different things all at once. She was terrified for Gail's life. She knew Steve wasn't sugar coating anything, but she doubted he really knew or understood the extent of her injuries. She felt empathy for Celery who must be somewhere in this hospital trying to keep herself together. She felt guilty for being in the mountains when Gail needed her and not getting here quicker. She felt more nervous than she thought she had ever felt, and a deep painful sadness. And yet amongst all of those terrible things dragging her down she still felt hope, that Gail and Oliver might just be okay, and then deep down was this love and appreciation for Steve, and the rest of Gail's friends who she knew would be here for her, more importantly for Gail. She was eternally grateful.

They quietly made their way back to wait on the news. It felt like all of 15 were here in the waiting room. Holly couldn't think about the night she spent sitting just a few seats down waiting to hear about Chloe, Sam and Oliver. Poor Oliver, he had been through so much lately. Holly suddenly realized that Celery was still nowhere to be seen. After confirming that she had indeed come to the hospital she set out to find her.

Celery had been sitting in all places, the OB waiting room. Holly didn't say anything, but instead just took a seat next to her. After a few minutes of silence Celery finally spoke.

"I just had to get out of that waiting room. Everyone in there seemed to be waiting to hear bad news. At least here everyone seems to be waiting for something good. Gives me a little bit of hope, you know?" Holly slid her arm over the other woman's shoulders and pulled her in tight. They sat together in silence until Holly's phone buzzed.

_Traci: Gail's out of surgery, Dr. wants to talk to you_.

Holly pulled Celery up with her and the two made their way back. As soon as they made their appearance Traci had a hold on Holly.

"Hey, the doctor wants to talk to you. He is right over here." Holly followed Traci over to the man in question who took over and directed her into a private room.

"Okay Ms. Stewart, I am Gail's surgeon. We weren't able to get your contact information from Gail before, but she mentioned while she was conscious that she wanted you involved in her treatment."

Holly nodded at the doctor to continue.

"Well, she has suffered quite a wide range of injuries. It looks like she was in close proximity to some sort of sudden high pressure blast, consistent with a small explosive detonation. She luckily does not have serious head injuries; she does have a mild concussion though. We were able to set a couple small breaks, but the main concern we had was her internal injuries. She had a fair amount of bleeding and she did some extensive damage to her appendix, which we removed. She is really quite lucky that she didn't injure more organs. She should make a full recovery barring any complications. We were able to stop the bleeds, but we will have to monitor her to guarantee that they are under control."

Upon hearing what the doctor had to say, Holly allowed herself to breathe a little easier. The doctor promised to let her review the chart, and films shortly and let her know when she was out of recovery. Holly made her way back to the waiting room and found Celery. While she had been gone Oliver's doctor had pulled her aside to fill her in as well. She knew something was wrong but sensed Celery needed some time in quiet. Holly felt like it had been a week instead of a few hours. She let her head fall back as she closed her eyes.


	34. Chapter 34

**_This story was updated yesterday, so careful not to miss that chapter or else this might be a bit confusing._**

* * *

There was a door to her right and she made her way to it as quickly as possible. She could see light through the crack between the door and the floor. Gathering her energy she slammed her shoulder as hard as she could into the door. After the third try it finally gave in to her weight. She was standing in Perik's basement. Holly's body was strapped to the table. Her lifeless, pale, cold body. Gail felt her legs give out under her. She was only two steps into the room when footsteps sounded above her. She took cover behind a large shelf, able to see the room, but hidden by the shadows. Perik made his way down, stopping to run his fingers down Holly's bare arm.

A mixture of fear, disgust, despair and rage filled her. She wanted to cry, throw up, and attack the man in front of her all at once. It took every bit of her to remain hidden. She watched in horror as Perik climbed atop the table. He began removing his clothing and Gain instantly knew what was coming next. She could not bear to watch. As quietly as she could she turned away holding her hands over her ears.

Suddenly she felt cold. She opened her eyes and she was outside. It was winter and she stood barefoot in snow. Something was different though, she was a child again. About 10 or 11. She could hear her brother's voice somewhere distant. She knew she had to find him. She would be in a terrible amount of trouble if she got lost again. Steve had her shoes and her feet were freezing. Tears fell from her eyes as she made her way towards the tree line, chasing after the boy. He was closer than she had thought. Within a reasonable distance. She quieted herself and made her way unnoticed from tree to tree. Once she was only a few meters away she ran. Steve was tackled to the ground and the shoes ripped from his hands. He rolled over to take back his stolen goods. Gail looked at the boy below her terrified by what she saw. Steve was grinning at her, apparently unaware of the bullet hole in the side of his head.

She launched herself up and took off back into the woods. Gail could barely feel the tree branches assaulting her as she weaved through them. She had to get out of the woods and fast. Steve was probably behind her, and she couldn't bear to see him like that again. She could hear a voice calling her name ahead of her. She ran faster determined to make her way towards the sound. Leaves crunched under her still bare feet, branches scratched her body, drawing blood. It didn't matter; Gail knew she had to keep going.

She stopped in a clearing trying to get her bearings. She could still hear a voice, a woman, calling out to her. She couldn't quite make out from what direction. Her gut told her to turn left so she did. She could see something bright up ahead. The closer she got the louder and clearer the voice became, but she also began to feel pain radiating throughout her body. Pushing on Gail found herself enveloped in a white hot light. It was too much for her, the light burned. She turned away and closed her eyes.

Gail felt her eyes open slightly. The voice was still there but her surroundings seemed different. It took a moment to come into focus. Finally able to make out where she was Gail felt sudden relief and heartache. She knew she had been in a terrible dream, at least she was awake now, but with that came the knowledge that something was horribly wrong. The last thing she remembered was talking to Oliver about the shipment…now she was sitting in a hospital bed. What had happened? Where was Oliver? Was he even alive? She was beginning to panic.

* * *

Holly had been typing up a report on her laptop when Gail had first begun to stir. She had to convince herself that it was actually happening and not just a weird hallucination from exhaustion. She immediately put her laptop aside and reached out for Gail, trying to ease her into consciousness. When Gail finally began to open her eyes Holly could tell she had no idea where she was. The elation of her girlfriend waking up was muted by the sadness she felt knowing that Gail was going to have to deal with the real world and the horrors they brought.

"Holly?" Gail was looking at her in confusion. "Holly…what happened."

Holly tried to pull herself together but it was proving more difficult than she anticipated. "Gail there was an incident. From what I understand you and Oliver were working on a big shipment of some kind, something went wrong, they don't know how yet, but your cover was blown. There was a fight, some people got shot, and someone ignited a crate of explosives. The blast was pretty intense. You and Oliver were hurt. They wouldn't tell me anything else."

Before she could explain any further Gail interrupted. "Where is he? Is Oliver okay? Holly, tell me he is alive!"

Holly sighed. She really didn't want to drop this on Gail the second she woke up. She really needed to go alert her doctor, but she knew Gail wouldn't let any such thing happen without knowing about Oliver. "He is alive. But…he was hurt pretty bad…he was in surgery when I got here, they thought it would be okay, but there were some complications. He um…he had to have his leg amputated."

"What?"

"Gail the important thing is that he is alive. He is going to be okay. They already have him working with a therapist to get him fit for a prosthetic." Holly reached out to Gail, hoping some contact would comfort her. Gail didn't even notice the hand. "He is really taking it a lot better than they hoped. He was pretty upset at first, Celery was a wreck, but he is really okay now. I promise. He keeps saying that he gets to be a robot now. I think he is actually convinced he is a cyborg of some kind."

Holly was interrupted by a doctor walking into the room. He was very obviously surprised to find his patient awake, and a little irritated that the other woman had yet to alert any medical staff. She seemed to notice though and left him to attend to her in private. Gail just wanted to get it over with so she could find out what happened. The quicker she got this taken care of the quicker she could get some answers. Steve made his way in just as the doctor was finishing. Apparently Holly had called.

"Hey little sis. Glad to see you are awake. I know you just woke up and all but we really have to go over everything as soon as possible." He offered her an apologetic smile and after a promise to sneak in some cheese puffs Gail relented and told him to come take a seat. He had her walk through everything she could remember. Twice. After she finished the second time around she probed him for some answers herself. Steve took his time…Gail didn't like that. He was usually to the point. There must be something else that no one had told her yet.

"Steve spit it out already. It can't get worse than Oliver." Gail tried to hide her irritation. Steve fidgeted nervously around in the chair before starting in on the explanation.

"Gail." He took a large breath in. "Your cover was blown, the crew found out about you and Oliver during the shipment unload. From what we gathered it got bad fast. We still aren't sure who ignited the crate but we know that there was a gun fight as well. Oliver was hit in the vest; you were hit too, but only grazed, not even bad enough for stitches. You both made it out of that part fairly unharmed, but there was one casualty. One of the kids that were there was shot. He was one of the shooters, so it was a clean shot; the bullet that hit Oliver came from his gun." Steve took a moment before he continued. "He was involved pretty heavily in the gang. Mostly doing stuff for the guys, running errands but they had brought him along for the job. I guess they needed the extra help so they brought him along."

"Steve I don't understand, why are you acting like this?" Gail was nervous, but impatient. She just wanted him to spit it out.

"Gail, the bullet that killed him came from your gun. You were the one that shot him."

Gail felt a strange emotion come over her. As much as she knew it was her job, she never actually thought she would have to shoot someone. More specifically kill someone. But Steve had said it was a clean shot, he had shot Oliver, she was probably protecting her partner…but something else was nagging her about what Steve said. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. "Steve you said kid."

He paused. "That's the part I was afraid to say. I know you can handle a shooting, but he was young Gail. Only 15. But it was a clean shot. Chances are if you hadn't shot him Oliver would be dead, maybe both of you. You had to do it."

Gail felt herself crack. She had killed a kid, a 15 year old kid. The gravity of the situation sunk in. She couldn't breathe. She felt like she was about to suffocate. Steve quickly went to get some help.


	35. Chapter 35

It had been a week since Gail woke up, two since she had been admitted into the hospital. She had been recovering from her physical wounds fairly well. Her doctor said it looked like she was going to recover just fine. Psychologically however she was a wreck. She had spent a significant amount of time talking to psychologists and psychiatrists, and psychobableologists or whatever they all were actually called. Shrinks really. That is all she saw them as. It had taken her a few days to even come to understand what it was that actually happened, but she still couldn't fully comprehend what it meant to her. They would clear her no doubt. She knew from all of the reports that it was a clean shot, but she still couldn't come to terms.

Steve had been in to see her almost daily, something very unlike him. Even more unlikely was that her mother had been to see her twice, only allowing herself to mention Gail's career once. Her father had come by once, he hadn't said much but Gail knew he was struggling to see her like that. It was too much for him to take. Holly on the other hand had only been in once since she woke. Gail had a feeling that something was off that day, she should have tried to get Holly to talk, but she had been so out of it, her emotions running wild. Now she was worried that Holly was going to leave her. Maybe she couldn't bear to look in Gail's eyes knowing what she had done to a child. The thought of losing Holly was too much for Gail to comprehend.

Luckily Gail had someone close by to confide in. Oliver was still in the hospital, he had to have an additional surgery but he actually seemed to be doing really well. Gail could see right through his confident façade enough to know he was still struggling to come to terms with the extent of his injuries but he was doing well considering. Celery was an absolute mess according to him. He admitted to Gail that the first day he saw her again was really difficult, that it still was a bit. It was getting easier but he thought it would take some time. Gail in turn admitted to Holly's absence and her own growing concern. He did his best to assure Gail that Holly would be back. But Gail's fear and concern only grew as the days passed.

The day Gail was discharged from the hospital she told only Steve. He had picked her up and taken her to her and Holly's apartment. Holly was at work so Gail went inside and packed as much of her things as she could. The rest would have to wait. Steve carried it out of the apartment and loaded the car up. They drove in silence to their parents' house. Gail knew Steve disapproved but he was her brother so he kind of had to help her anyways. As soon as she was in the driveway Elaine burst out the front door ushering Gail inside the house. Steve was left to unceremoniously take Gail's belongings out of his car and inside.

* * *

Holly came home utterly exhausted. She hadn't slept through the night once since she had last seen Gail. She had struggled to bring herself back to visit Gail after she woke up, and it seemed to prove harder the second time she tried. Each day Holly woke up with the intention to visit Gail, and each day she failed. Instead she would drag herself home and sit in the half empty bed and drink until she fell asleep. The next morning she would wake up feeling terrible and guilty, with a determination to go visit Gail and make up for the days she had missed, only to fall back into her pattern. It wasn't that she didn't want to be there for her girlfriend, she did more than anything but she couldn't bring herself to face the feelings she was dealing with. She knew she owed Gail so much more than she was giving, but it didn't make it any easier.

Holly knew that Gail would be discharged soon. She was ecstatic and terrified at the same time. She had no idea how she would react when she could no longer hide from her problems. The thought of having Gail at home in her arms was like a dream, but she had no idea how she could make it through a single day with her there either. She managed to avoid her girlfriend's calls, but had dutifully listened to each voicemail in hope and in fear that Gail was being released. That is why it surprised Holly to find her and Gail's apartment slightly emptier when she came home.

Holly tore her phone from her pocket and dialed Steve's number. She reached his voicemail and left a desperate message. Suddenly realizing what her actions may have cost her was too much. Holly walked over to her cabinet, took out a bottle of vodka and began to drink. By the time Steve had found the voicemail on his phone and decided to return the call, Holly had been fast asleep, passed out in her drunkenness for over an hour. Instead of leaving a return voicemail, he opted for a simple text.

When Holly's alarm went off the next morning she reached for her phone hoping to see that Steve or maybe even Gail had called. Instead she found only the one text message:

**_'Holly, I think it is best if you don't call me. You really messed up. Find a way to fix this.'_**

She immediately felt guilt crash over her. She felt like she was drowning. This was all just too overwhelming. She was scared of losing Gail, she felt eternally guilty for abandoning her, but she also felt hurt that Gail hadn't tried to talk to her…then again how could she expect her to? Holly had always been honest with Gail but what she was dealing with now was beyond anything she had ever managed to share. She thought she had dealt with this problem years ago, but it seemed like she had just buried it. Not only was she ruining her relationship with Gail by keeping this secret, but she was also pretty sure she would ruin herself completely.

Holly wiped her tears away and pulled last night's bottle of vodka back to her lips. Work could wait until tomorrow; today she just needed to sleep. And maybe to drink. Actually, definitely to drink.


	36. Chapter 36

_**Maybe I should have given a heads up before the last chapter or so...oops. Speaking of warnings, this is the second chapter within 24 hrs, so WARNING. And to everyone that sent me not so happy reviews, trust me, I don't want to see them in this shitty place for long either, but sometimes, this stuff is important, and life is not perfect. With that being said, feel free to leave me hate mail if you so see fit, all feedback is welcome. If that is not your thing then I will also accept reviews or bribery in the form of cookie dough or whiskey. **_

* * *

Gail had been staying with her parents for a few weeks, trying to recuperate mentally and physically. Her mother had actually been very understanding and had given her space. Gail had been surprised this morning when she informed her mother she had been cleared for duty, and Elaine had suggested she take additional time off. Gail couldn't bear the thought of being stuck in this house any longer. The silence was going to drive her insane. All she had here was time. Time to think about Oliver and his condition, time to think about the boy she killed, time to think about Holly. She couldn't stand it; she had to get back to work.

Gail spent the day with Steve, who like her mother tried to convince her to take more time off. Upon realization that his efforts were useless he suggested they hit the range to make sure she ready for duty. After an afternoon at the range, they decided on a new Mexican place for dinner. Dinner was good, and it kept her mind from wandering. She was glad that Steve had been there for her. He had really made an effort to be there every step of the way and Gail was grateful. Gail paid for dinner, a thank you to Steve, although she didn't actually say it out loud. The drive back to their parents' house was silent. Gail was dreading the end of the day. Steve had been a great distraction but she knew she would soon be left to her thoughts. They parted ways and Gail made her way upstairs and to her room quietly.

As soon as her bedroom door was closed behind her, she found herself in tears. How had her life come to this? A month ago she was excited at the prospect of having the operation done, eager to return home to Holly. Now she sat on the floor of her childhood bedroom, alone, and in pieces. Everything she had known had fallen apart. She had no idea where to go from here.

* * *

The next morning was a bit of a blur. She was running on autopilot, trying not to put too much thought into her first day back. She was strictly on desk duty for the next two weeks, but she was still somewhat apprehensive. Luckily the paperwork kept her busy and she had no spare time to focus on anything else. Unluckily around lunchtime a report showed up on her desk. To be more specific a report from the morgue. What surprised Gail was the lack of Holly's name on it. She usually was the go to pathologist for 15. Something about it left Gail uneasy. She gathered her belongings and made her way out for lunch, determined to track Holly down.

The trip to the morgue was quick and she found herself wishing she had more time to prepare herself. Gail pushed her anxiety back and made her way to the lab. After peeking inside and seeing only a few lab techs, she made her way upstairs to Holly's office. There was a note on the door stating that she was out on sick leave and to contact Dr. Franklin if the need arose. Gail was tempted just to leave it be and go get some food, but she felt something nagging at her. Instead she called the station to say she had decided she may need some time after all and promised to report in tomorrow morning.

Half an hour later Gail sat in front of her and Holly's apartment. She wasn't even sure she could call it theirs anymore, but none the less, there she sat. The sickening feeling in her stomach made her regret stopping for lunch on the way. She couldn't seem to calm her nerves as she got out of the car and made her way up. She knocked softly and waited. There was no sound behind the door. This time she knocked harder, still to be met with only silence in return. Reluctantly Gail pulled her key from her bag and after some struggle was able to put the key in the lock. She pleaded with herself to calm down enough to quiet her shaking hands. After a deep breath, Gail slowly pushed the door open.

Their apartment looked like a stranger's. There was clutter everywhere. Dirty clothes were left by the bathroom door, cartons of takeout sat on top of the kitchen counters, empty bottles of alcohol were strewn about, and a pile of disorganized DVD cases sat next to the T.V. Gail took it all in, her eyes only stopping when they reached the form of Holly's sleeping body. She laid still fully clothed, bottle in hand on a makeshift bed in the living room. The sight simultaneously broke Gail's heart and infuriated her. How dare Holly sit here in self-pity when she was the one that had turned her back on Gail? She looked back over to the other woman and sighed to herself. As mad as she was, she loved Holly with all of her heart, and she couldn't bear to leave her like this.

Gail stepped fully into the apartment and shut the door quietly behind her. She made herself some coffee and set to work.

* * *

When Holly awoke, she was sorely confused. This was nothing new as of late however something was more confusing than usual. She had grown accustom to awaking to find it an odd hour, or to the sickening feeling of another hangover, but this was the first time she woke up to find the apartment in this condition. Already feeling queasiness set in, she slowly sat up, trying to do her best to keep anything from spinning. After gathering her bearings Holly let her eyes wander over the room. It was completely spotless. She took in everything in her sight and stopped when she spotted Gail's favorite mug sitting on the breakfast bar, steaming from the apparently still hot coffee it held.

Holly managed to bring herself into a standing position and made her way towards the kitchen. Maybe she had really lost it this time. Maybe she was completely insane, and this was all some delusion. Why would Gail come over here to clean the apartment and then leave? It made no sense to her. But her longing for Gail overcame her sense of surrealism. Instead she pulled one of the breakfast bar stools close and took a seat, holding the coffee mug in her hands. It didn't take long before tears began to fall from her face. She let go completely, sobbing onto the counter, knuckles going white from her ever increasing grip on the mug. She was slowly melting into despair, letting herself come undone, feeling as if she would never be able to stem the flow of regret and sorrow.

* * *

Gail had been in their bedroom, straightening it up. There wasn't much to do clean. It appeared Holly had done her best to remain out of the room completely. She had finally finished and pulled the headphones out of her ears only to be met with a sound she recognized immediately. Gail slowly walking out of the room and towards the kitchen. She stood for a moment, taking in the beaten down woman before her. Holly seemed unaware of her presence, and Gail didn't want to frighten her but she couldn't bear to watch Holly like this. Slowly Gail made her way over and placed her hands gently on Holly's face.

Holly jumped, not expecting anyone to be in the apartment with her. She had tensed immediately, ready to attack, but upon looking up and seeing Gail a flood of relief ran through her. She collapsed completely into the other woman. It was all she could do to keep from falling to the floor. All of the anguish, and regret, and guilt overcame her in that instant. No words managed their way out, instead she found herself only uttering loud sobs, unable to control herself even slightly. She wasn't sure how long Gail stood there, holding her silently, never wavering. It may have been a few minutes or a few hours. It made no difference either way. Slowly Holly's cries calmed, and her breathing slowed, and before she had a chance to realize it, she was asleep again.

* * *

The second time Holly woke, she was in their bed. It had been ages since she had been in that bed. After she realized that Gail had no intention of returning she had instead slept only in the living room, on a makeshift bed. The thought of sleeping alone in the room that was meant for two was far too unnerving. She only stepped foot in their bedroom when absolutely necessary and usually any trip to it resulted in tears, self-pity, and drinking. It was a reminder of everything she had lost. Holly felt that same pang in her chest as she arose. It hurt to wake up in an empty bed. She could only hope that Gail was still somewhere in the apartment waiting for her.

Realizing she was quite the mess, Holly decided on a quick shower. If Gail really had stayed, she didn't want to give her current unstable state away any more than she already had. The least she could do is try to put herself together. The hot water helped to alleviate some tension and clear her mind. She stepped out of the shower and took something for her headache before getting dressed. By the time she finally emerged from the bedroom it had grown dark out. She half expected to find a dark apartment but was instead greeted by a gentle light coming from the kitchen and the smell of something delicious being prepared.

Holly slowed her pace and turned the corner. Gail had her back turned, apparently unaware that Holly had emerged from the bedroom. There was a large plate of bacon and eggs on the counter that Gail was currently adding pancakes to. Holly realized them for what they were. They were Gail's infamous "Peckcakes". No matter how mad or hurt Gail was, Holly knew that this small gesture proved her undying love. It was simple, and to someone else would mean nothing, but to Holly it represented so much. It was something that Gail would make for Holly when she was feeling down, something to cheer her up, it was her comfort food. It was how Gail told her she would always be there for her. It was something Holly cherished. And the fact that Gail was making them for dinner meant a lot to her. The first time Gail had made it for Holly for dinner had been a terrible day. Both women exhausted, Holly had broken down to Gail, overcome by her emotions on a particular case. The second night was the night that Holly had found out an old friend of hers had been killed in an accident. Tonight marked the third night.

"Gail?"

Holly watched as the blonde turned towards her slowly. She found no more anger in her eyes, just sadness, and possibly still a small amount of disappointment. Holly was unable to control herself and ran to Gail, throwing her arms around her neck.

"Gail, I am such a fool. I never meant for this to get between us. I never thought I would have to face all of this again. I am so sorry for everything. Please forgive me. I don't know what to do without you." Holly's words were barely decipherable through her tears, but she was sure Gail heard them. Gail held Holly in place, rocking her slowly to calm her down. After Holly had gathered herself, Gail put enough distance between them to look in her eyes.

"Holly I love you, and that will never change, but what you did to me, it tore me apart. I didn't think I could ever forgive you. But I knew something wasn't right. That was why I came here. And to find you like this…this was not the Holly I know. This is not my girlfriend, the woman I fell in love with. So I called around. No one could tell me anything at first, but I got off the phone with Greg about an hour ago. He wouldn't tell me much, but only enough to get me to stay. He said I needed to let you tell me. So here I am Holly. But you have to be honest with me."

Holly knew she couldn't back down anymore. She had to pull herself out of this pit. And if Gail needed answers, then she would give them, and deep down Holly knew that she needed to confide in Gail just as much and Gail needed her to do the same. It was going to be rough but it had to be done. She looked up into Gail's eyes and saw only love and patience. It gave her the security she knew she would need.

Gail pulled the woman in front of her into another hug and sat her down. "I have a feeling that this is going to be a long story, and I doubt you will make it through without food. So let's eat first, okay?" Holly just nodded in return and took the plate Gail offered her.


	37. Chapter 37

**_Just a heads up, this is the third update in 24 hours, so fair warning and whatnot. _**

**_Sorry about the cliffhanger, but look, more story, and an explanation. But I feel the need to warn that this is not a happy, fluffy chapter either. There is some heavy stuff in here, so if you are looking for instant gratification, you have come to the wrong place my friend. Holly has some explaining to do, but given the extent of her behavior lately I think it is safe to say that she has some demons to deal with. _**

* * *

Holly helped Gail clear the kitchen. It was in part for the silence, and in part just to take a moment of normalcy in, a chance to bask in something yet undamaged. But of course, as with all moments it ended too soon. Gail went to the fridge and took out two bottles of water, leaving one on the counter for Holly as she went to take a seat in the living room. Holly made a grab for the bottle, but found herself instead wishing for something a bit stronger. She opened the fridge and was met with disappointment. She could have sworn there were a few beers left. Moving on to the cabinets, she was met with similar results.

"I threw them all out." Gail's voice drifted into the kitchen.

Holly turned towards the sound to find that Gail was facing away from her. She supposed that her efforts would come as no surprised to Gail after the state she found her in. Holly felt guilt wash over her again. She opened the lid to the trash can to spot about a dozen empty bottles of liquor and a few empty bottles of beer sitting at the top. Gail had poured everything out. She sighed to herself and took the bottle of water from the counter, making her way towards the couch.

They sat for a small eternity in silence; Holly unable to meet Gail's questioning eyes. She had no idea how or where to start. Part of her would rather sit through Gail screaming at her than sit in this disappointment. It broke her heart knowing that Gail saw her like this. She owed the woman next to her an explanation but she had no idea how to do it. Her mouth opened and closed, voiceless. She tried to talk only to be met with silence. Holly could feel the tears forming in her eyes already. What if she physically was incapable of speaking? What if Gail would grow impatient and just leave?

Holly's thoughts were quieted suddenly by a hand. A simple gesture offered by Gail, a lifeline really. Holly let Gail's fingers intertwine her own and took a deep breath. She felt her nerves die down slightly as she stopped shaking. Her eyes rose up and met Gail's. Gail looked back into her own, and what Holly saw staring back at her was love and concern. There was no judgment, or disappointment, or anger. It was just Gail, looking for answers, hoping to find that Holly was willing to trust her enough to help.

"I never thought that I would have to deal with this again." Holly managed to squeak out, words finally finding her. "I thought that I had buried this for good. Maybe I didn't bury it deep enough, or maybe I should have just dealt with it in the first place. I don't know, I don't think it really matters anymore. Either way, here we are, and here I am, and I guess it comes time to sort it out."

Holly took a moment to find a starting point. "I guess it is a pretty simple story really. It all goes back to my time overseas. You know what it is like to find yourself in those situations. Where you don't have time to think, and actions are made before you even realize that you have started to move. It's funny what can change in a matter of seconds. I'm not sure what all Greg told you, but I guess I need to start from the beginning."

Gail's grip on her hand tightened and Holly held fast. "We had been in the desert for about 3 months at this point. Greg and I didn't really get on much; we actually kind of despised each other at the time. We got into it pretty bad one night, and he stormed off, trying to cool down some. Emotions run high, and it's so easy to spiral out of control over there. You see so much despair and sadness, and it just does something to you. But anyways, he had gone off and I was left to calm down with Cal and Owen. We talked a lot that night, about the project, and family, and each other. Sometime late that night Greg wandered back in. We decided to all try and get some sleep and start fresh the next morning. But the next day we all woke to a loud bang. There was fighting in the street between some locals. Some of the soldiers there came in to break it up and it turned deadly. There were only a few guys, probably just there to keep the peace, but I guess someone didn't want them there. Two of them were shot dead and the third guy was injured. Everyone in the streets ran for cover, no one knowing where the shots had come from. I ran out to help him, his arm was in pieces, and he was going to bleed out. We didn't spot anyone else around, we had no idea where the rest of their unit was, and we didn't really have much of a choice but to handle things ourselves. We couldn't move him, he would have died on the spot, and we were in the middle of this deserted street, in plain sight of whoever had been shooting. Owen took the man's gun from him and stood lookout while I tried to patch him up. We didn't have much to work with and he didn't have much of a chance of making it in the first place, but I kept trying, even after I should have stopped."

Holly took a moment to collect herself. Gail waited patiently for her to continue. She didn't want to force Holly to relive whatever had happened, but she knew it was a necessary evil. Gail opened the bottle of water for her and urged Holly to take a minute to herself. After she settled herself a bit Holly continued.

"So there I was, kneeling in the street, covered in blood, trying desperately to save this man when we heard shots ring out. They were close, and they were intended for us. Owen was looking around desperately, trying to find who it was, we all were. And then I heard him fire. There was a child, probably no older than 10 or 11 lying in the street. He had a weapon on him, and chances are he was who was firing. Probably dragged into this war at a young age, not knowing what it meant, not realizing the consequences. But Owen had been in the moment, survival instincts running, and he had fired before he had a chance to comprehend how young the child was. I don't know if it would have changed his actions or not, had he had ample time to think, but it didn't matter, it was too late. What was done was done and none of us could change that. Owen ran. Cal and Greg stayed with the kid, trying to figure out what to do next, I went after Owen. I found him in an abandoned building. He was completely broken. I tried to get close to him, but he was hysterical. I don't think I have ever seen someone so defeated before. The closer I got the more he freaked out. He pointed the gun at me demanding I leave him, but I think that he realized what he was doing, and it just made him panic more. I backed off a bit and tried to talk him down, but I think he had made up his mind already. He begged me to leave, but I couldn't. I couldn't give up on him, I had to try something. But in the end, he turned the gun on himself and pulled the trigger. Who knows if I would have done him any good even if I could have stopped him? I don't think he ever would have come to terms with what happened."

So there it was, out in the open. Holly didn't think she would ever talk about that again. A lot had happened in a short time over there. Not even two weeks later was when she was shot. It had been a stray bullet, and she had been lucky enough to only be grazed by it, barely even needing stiches. They had left a month later and went back to their own lives, trying desperately to leave behind the nightmares and memories. Obviously she had never actually gotten around to dealing with the psychological repercussions of those events.

Gail reached out and pulled Holly in, holding her firmly in place. They stayed like that, both caught up in emotions, Gail a bit in shock of what Holly had admitted to her. She let Holly go and held her at arms length, searching for a sign of what to do next.

"I'm sorry Hols. I had no idea."

Holly wiped her eyes and looked up at Gail. "How could you? I never told anyone about it. At least not anyone who I didn't have to tell. Obviously there were inquiries and reports, and of course, we had to finish our work, but after that I didn't speak of it. I never told my parents or friends or anyone about it. I didn't want to think about it ever again. Well a lot of good that did me. Greg tried to get me to go talk to someone about it, but I refused."

Gail nodded in response, and looked for what to say next. "So, that explains why you freaked out when everything about the undercover assignment came out. Too close to home?"

Holly nodded. "Yeah. I guess I just panicked. I saw how terrified you were after you found out about the shooting, and I just pictured Owen again. I saw what it did to him, and I just, I couldn't deal with seeing the same thing happen to you. All of those old memories came back and I just broke. I tried so hard Gail, I really did, but I just couldn't face you. I couldn't see the same looks Owen gave me before he shot himself in your eyes. So instead I drank, and drank some more, and left you alone to figure it out without me. I was a coward, and I failed you."

Gail placed her hands on the side of Holly's face, pulling her gaze up to her own. "Holly, I forgive you okay? I really do, but we have a lot to work on. I'm not Owen. You have to understand that. I'm not going to kill myself. I promise you that. I've been talking to people, to Steve, and to Oliver, and to my shrink, and I'm dealing with things. But you have to deal with your shit too Holly. I am not going to let you destroy yourself. You owe that to yourself, and to me. So we are going to find you a shrink of your own. And you can come to me too, but I think you need to really talk to a professional. And this drinking has to stop. You are an amazing woman Holly Stewart, and you deserve so much more than what you are giving yourself right now. This woman you have become is not you."

Holly placed her hands against Gail's and promised. Gail was right. This new Holly was going to destroy herself, and they both deserved better.


	38. Chapter 38

The next few months were pretty rough. Gail moved back into her and Holly's apartment, but not back into their bedroom. She had forgiven Holly, but they still had a lot to work though, both as a couple and individually. Holly had made amazing progress, the nightmares had stopped, sparing an occasional one here and there, but nothing in comparison to the nightly terrors she used to face. She had been working with a psychiatrist and had quit drinking completely. Gail had gone back to full duty and was doing well at work. Oliver had made a quick recovery. Celery had freaked out the first time he went back to work, even if it was just desk duty. He had been busting his ass and had passed his first physical back with flying colors. He kept joking to anyone that would listen that it was because he was a cyborg. Gail suspected that Oliver's refusal to take a permanent desk job and get off the streets had pushed him to the recovery he had surprised everyone with. Gail and Holly had recently started couple's therapy. They were doing great and Gail had even agreed that it was about time for her and Holly to move back into the same room together at the suggestion of their therapist.

"So, moving day?" Gail suggested over brunch. They had just finished a jog together, something they had started doing recently, a way for them to vent their frustrations while still spending time together.

Holly took a bite of her toast and smiled back at the blonde. "What, tonight?"

"Why not? I think it is about time. I miss you at night." Gail said quietly, trying to hide her blush.

"Ok then, it is settled, because I miss you too. Tonight." Holly whispered back. Gail grinned unabashedly at her and started back in on her waffles.

They finished their food and then parted ways. Holly walked towards a bookstore she was meeting Celery at. They had become pretty close while Gail was undercover with Oliver. Gail made her way to her apartment that Oliver was meeting her at.

Oliver was waiting outside for her when she arrived. "Peck, what took you so long?"

"Calm down old man." He snorted in response and followed her inside. He flopped down on the couch and took the offered coffee from Gail. "So I have news."

"Oh do share. What's going on Peck?"

Gail couldn't help but laugh. "You sound like a teenage girl Ollie."

He just shrugged his shoulders and urged her to spill.

"Okay, okay. So Holly and I are doing really well and our therapist thinks we are at a place where we can move back in together."

"Uh not to be a buzzkill, but don't you already live together…?"

"Yeah, but we haven't been sleeping in the same room since everything happened." Oliver didn't know everything that had gone down between them, but he knew enough to understand they had come a long way in their relationship since the operation.

"Wait, so how do you guys like…I mean that's got to be awkward after right?"

Gail rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, it would be, if we were having sex."

He shot straight up eyes wide. "Wait, you two aren't having sex?"

"No. We haven't had sex since right before I left for the U.C. op. We had a lot to work through and it just hasn't happened." She sighed and put her head down in her hands, mumbling the rest of her response. "So tonight I am moving back into our bedroom with Holly and I am super nervous. What if she expects us to have sex tonight, or worse, what if she doesn't and I can't keep my hands to myself? Do you know how hard it has been to control myself so far?"

"Gail, calm down. First of all I'm sure Holly is probably just as nervous as you are. She is probably having this very same conversation with Celery right now actually. I doubt she expects anything either way. She loves you though, so I am sure that whatever the case it, you will both be fine. Don't stress about it and things will happen in their own time. And if not, I can lend you my porn that Celery won't let me keep in the house."

"Oh my god. You did not just say that."

"What? If you don't want it, just say so. I was just offering."

Gail couldn't help but laugh. "You do realize this is the 21st century right? You can get whatever you want online for free."

Oliver just chucked a pillow at Gail in response. They spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV and eating junk food. Around dinner time Holly and Celery showed up at the apartment and Oliver and Celery went home, leaving just Gail and Holly.

"Have fun with Celery today babe?" Gail asked greeting Holly with a kiss.

"Yeah, you?" Holly asked, sliding her bags onto the coffee table.

"Mmhm. So what is for dinner?"

Holly went into the kitchen searching for something to cook. "How about we just order in tonight? We can watch some movies or something?"

Gail wandered into the kitchen after the brunette. She slipped her arms around Holly's waist and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Sounds perfect."

They ordered Chinese and spent the evening curled up together on the couch, the movie long forgotten in the background. Gail lay beneath Holly, trying hard to control her desires as the woman above her nipped at her neck eagerly. What had started as innocent teasing had quickly spiraled into a heavy make out session. Gail felt her breath hitch as Holly moaned above her.

"Mmm, babe, you can't do that to me." Gail gasped.

Holly shifted up a bit, so she could look at Gail. "Oh, and why is that?"

"Because you are seriously going to make me come if you keep doing that, and we haven't even made it to our bedroom."

Holly's eyes darkened in response, and before Gail could second guess her admission, Holly had jumped off of the couch and was dragging Gail towards the bedroom.


	39. Chapter 39

_**Just a little something-something...no big whoop or anything.**_

* * *

All of Gail's fear about the evening fell away as Holly shut their bedroom door behind them. The look in her eyes was hungry, needy, she did not want to hold out any longer, and Gail was not about to stop her. Hands pulled at clothes, eagerness getting in the way of removing them in any efficient manner. Gail was suddenly at a loss for why she didn't have scissors in their room, it would be so much easy just to cut all of this offending fabric off of Holly's body. She had no patience tonight, not when it has been almost six months since was able to make love to her girlfriend.

Frustrated, Gail tried to simultaneously remove her own pants and Holly's shirt, unsuccessfully. "Damn it Holly, take your fucking clothes off already."

Holly shoved Gail down on their bed and tore the clothes from her body at record speed. "Your turn." Gail made to move off the bed but Holly pushed her back into place, instead leaning forward to begin undressing Gail herself. Gail obediently laid back as Holly grabbed the bottom of her pants and pulled the material from her legs in one quick tug. Her shirt came next, followed by the little remaining clothing on her until they both were naked. Holly allowed Gail to reach out for her, pulling her down to the bed roughly by the hips. Their lips met, anticipation giving way.

Gail's hands found Holly's and held on as their bodies became familiar again. It was urgent and patient all at the same time. Both women needed release, but neither willing to end this too hastily. Holly reached down to find Gail's body ready for her. They melted into each other effortlessly, and instantly everything changed. Suddenly hunger and desperateness gave way to something much more intimate. It was a spark. A fire. A damn explosion. Whatever it was, it was new, and it was beyond amazing.

Neither Gail nor Holly would have been able to form anything coherent. In that moment they were purely lost in each other, finally able to convey their love and lust after all they had been through. They had gone without each other's body for far too long, and in this moment, they only thing that mattered was just that. It was completely apparent, evidence left out in plain view. Their admissions laid not in any tangible medium, but in their actions and words. Each kiss, each touch drawing further attention to their emotions. It was more than desire, more than sex, this went beyond making love. It was an all-new art form they created together. It was a confession, a promise.

Gail felt the air thicken with it, and she could see it in Holly's eyes. They were bound together in an understanding. In all of their time together, nothing had compared to this, not even close. They had spent countless hours, days even, fucking, or making love, sometimes out of frustration, or pure lust, mostly out of love, but this, this was something altogether different.

Each touch brought them closer to the edge, threatening to overtake them both. Gail could feel herself eager to let go, but held on until Holly gave in. They climaxed together, calling out for each other, holding on with such intensity. Once the aftershocks calmed, they lay in a heap, still clinging together, neither ready to let go. Holly pulled Gail in closer, her body covering her own with comforting pressure. She let her eyes drift open, and slowly the world began to settle, her senses letting her surroundings crash back in.

It took her a moment to realize what had pulled her out of her fog. It was Gail, sobbing softly into her shoulder, unwilling to let her go. Holly shifted out from under the woman and sat up, pulling Gail up with her into a tight embrace.

"Baby, it's okay. I am here, you can talk to me." Holly whispered out, clearly concerned with what was happening with Gail.

Gail took a moment to collect herself and pulled half way out of Holly's hold, just enough to find her eyes. "I'm sorry, I…I don't know what happened."

"It's okay Gail. I am not going anywhere."

Gail smiled. "I know babe. I've just never felt like that before. I don't know how to explain it. I just…you…I mean…" She took a deep breath, and let it back out slowly. "Holly, I don't think anyone in the world could ever make me feel what you make me feel. This here, you and me, it's different. I didn't think it was possible to be so deeply in love with someone and to know without a doubt that someone could be as helplessly in love with me in return. These tears aren't sad tears, they are happy tears. Because you, Holly Stewart make me happy, blissfully, eternally happy. Do you know what I mean?"

Holly knew exactly what Gail meant, it was the same feeling she harbored. Somehow just nodding her head didn't seem like enough; telling Gail she loved her wasn't enough. This moment went beyond that. Gail had pulled her from the brink of destruction; she had pulled her life together. Gail had been there for her, and Holly was eternally grateful. They had suffered through so much, and had only become stronger. This woman in front of her deserved everything she could ever offer and so much more. And Holly didn't want to give it to anyone but her. There was no doubt in her mind that Gail was the one. She would love this woman for the rest of eternity, no matter where life led them; Holly's heart would forever be Gail's. It always had been.

"Gail?" Holly lifted her hand, placing it gently on Gail's face. She waited for their eyes to meet again.

"Yeah?"

"Marry me."

Holly watched as fresh tears fell from Gail's eyes. Her own vision blurred slightly as she struggled to keep herself from crying too. Gail reached out for her hands and pulled them into her own, before settling her gaze back to Holly's.

"Yes. Yes I will marry you Holly. Of course I will marry you."

Holly let the tears break through as she pulled Gail into her. The love of her life had just said yes. Gail said yes. Something occurred to her just then and a laugh snuck out.

Gail pulled back slightly amused, still beaming at Holly. "What?"

Holly laughed even harder. "I guess this means you really are my plus on forever?"

Gail swatted at Holly playfully even though she herself was laughing. "Oh god, what a nerd."

"Yeah. Your nerd now."

"Holly you were always my nerd."

* * *

**_So...hopefully this makes up for all the terrible heartbreak and sadness that has been the last few chapters. This is not quite the end, however I do feel the need to give fair warning that we are getting very close. Only a few more chapters to come...and anything could happen..._**


	40. Chapter 40

**_Sorry it has been so long, I have been super busy, and I have found it rather difficult to focus lately. Serious writers block! But this chapter is a bit longer than usual so hopefully that helps._**

* * *

Gail spun around finding the source of the voice and shot daggers in a one Oliver Shaw's direction. "What are you even doing here? Why would you come here voluntarily?"

"Ahh, yes…well…it is a secret, so you never saw me here." With that, Oliver rounded a corner leaving Gail staring after him sorely confused. What in the world was Ollie doing at headquarters? What was she even doing here? "Oh yeah." She muttered mostly to herself before knocking on the door labeled Superintendent Elaine Peck.

"Enter."

Gail took a deep breath before she walked in. Her mother sat at her desk, staring into the screen of her computer. After a moment of hushed swears, she looked up to find her daughter waiting rather nervously in front of her desk. "These damn things keep freezing on me."

It seemed to be the only greeting she was going to get so Gail started in on her request, eager to get the fuck out of this place ASAP. "Holly and I would like to invite you and dad over for dinner this Saturday night, our place at 7."

Elaine stared back at her daughter, a look muddled between smug and questioning glued to her face. "Andyocouldn't call to invite us why?"

Her mouth opened and closed a few times, not able to find a valid explanation. She of course would have much preferred to do her bidding over the phone instead of dragging herself over to this depressing building to face her mother in person. Somehow it just hadn't felt right, and given her reasons for the invitation she figured she could make the trip. Her mother, though, had no idea why she was receiving a dinner invitation, the first she had received at that, so Gail could understand why Elaine was staring at her so weird.

"Do you think you both will be able to make it?" Her voice nearly broke mid question. She just needed an answer and quick so she could leave.

Her mother of course, sensed her anxiety over the request, but for once, decided against probing further. "I believe we can. 7pm then?"

Gail just nodded. Her mother nodded in response and Gail left the room at record speed, desperate to escape before she could get tricked into some other social engagement or thrown into a random Peck-style "not-interrogation". Luckily, her mother did not call her back, leaving Gail to make her rather unprofessionally fast exit.

* * *

Saturday morning Holly snuck out of the apartment, leaving a still sleeping Gail wrapped in their sheets. Holly drove to the airport leisurely, eager to see her parents, but also a bit nervous about the events of the night ahead. She scored an awesome parking spot by the entrance and turned off the engine. She stopped mid-twist, halting her exit from the vehicle. Her stomach was twisting anxiously, making her almost queasy. Holly leaned back in her seat, taking in deep breaths, trying to calm herself a bit. Once her pulse had returned to a resemblance of normal, she left the car and made her way in to wait on her parent's flight to land.

She stood by baggage claim, stealing nervous glances at her phone. Gail had woken up 20 minutes ago and had immediately begun her barrage of texts to Holly. It seemed she wasn't the only one utterly terrified with the evening's plans. Holly took a seat, forcing herself to stop pacing. After what felt like forever she saw her parents waving at her. She got up from her seat and went to greet them.

"It is so good to see you Holly dear." Her mother wrapped her up in a tight hug, letting her go only so her father could greet his daughter as well.

"You too Ma. Hey dad."

"Hey little girl. Where is Gail? You didn't bring her with you to the airport? You are still dating right?"

"Yes dad, Gail and I are still together. I would have told you if something happened." Holly felt her stomach twist in her stomach, realizing that something had indeed happened, just not what they were discussing. She tried to calm her nerves and hide her blatant smile while she led her parents out to her car.

* * *

When Holly returned to the apartment she was glad to see that Gail had cleaned the place up a bit. She had dropped her folks off at their hotel so they could get settled in, and had stopped to pick up a few things for tonight in the process. She dropped the stuff off on the counter and stepped into their bedroom to find Gail fresh from a shower, in only a towel, digging through their closet.

"Hey babe. Good morning." Holly snaked her arms around Gail's middle and pulled her back into a hug. She could feel Gail ease back into her, and sigh contentedly at the contact.

Gail turned around to face Holly, eager to get their missed good-morning kiss in. "Good morning beautiful." Holly grinned like a fool and just leaned in to kiss her. "Did you drop your parents off?"

Holly nodded before pulling Gail into a tantalizing kiss, pushing them both into a whole new frame of mind.

"Mmmm. Babe, we can't do this right now. We have to go pick everything up; there are a million things to do before tonight." Gail tried her best to hold Holly's advances off.

"I got everything already."

"You did, did you?"

"Mmhmm."

"Well in that case…" Gail dropped her towel on the floor and watched as Holly's eyes fell to her body.

Holly pulled her own shirt off and reached out for Gail. Their lips found each other instantly, hands following suit. Holly felt her back hit their bedroom wall as Gail tore at her belt buckle, making quick work at undressing her. Gail had her bare in seconds flat. The look in Holly's eyes made her breath catch in her throat. Holly flipped their positions, pinning Gail against the wall.

"I want you so bad." Holly's voice was almost a growl; her eyes were nearly black with desire. It made Gail's knees weak with want.

"Then take me."

Gail watched her words physically impact the woman before her. She knew what she said would push Holly past the point of control, it was her every intention. The way Holly looked at her, needed her, it drove Gail nearly insane. She would gladly give herself over to her.

Holly lifted Gail up so that she was straddling her hips, using her body to help her keep Gail up against the wall, leaving her hands free. Gail moaned loudly at the sudden contact, pulling Holly tighter against her center. Her head fell back onto the hard surface behind her. Holly found her waiting neck, quickly going to work, kissing and nipping at the exposed flesh.

"Fuuuck Holly. You are making me so fucking wet."

Holly pulled back, finding Gail's eyes. Her breathing was completely ragged and unsteady, leaving her almost lightheaded. She pulled her gaze from Gail's and looked down to where their bodies met. She steadied Gail a bit before reaching down towards her slick stomach.

"I think I can do better than that, don't you?" Holly swiped a finger through the wetness on her body as she spoke.

Gail was pretty sure her legs would have given out on her if she had been standing. "Prove it."

Holly wrapped her arms around the blonde and walked her over to their bed, setting her on the edge before breaking contact. "Stay here, and don't start without me." She was only half serious about the second part. Gail knew Holly wouldn't be too upset if she returned to just that, it would only fuel them further. But curiosity got the best of Gail, so she waited patiently as Holly strode off towards their closet. She returned a moment later holding their strap-on out questioningly. Gail nodded at her fiancé and tugged Holly closer. She helped her put the harness on before crawling back onto the bed, followed closely by Holly.

Holly stopped when she was directly over Gail, taking a moment to place her glasses on the nightstand. "You know I love you with all of my heart right?"

Holly didn't wait for answer, already knowing the response. Instead she lowered her body down onto Gail's, kissing her deeply. Gail's hands quickly got lost in her dark locks. Holly felt Gail's body shifting under her own, desperately trying to find any friction she could. Holly pulled back enough to reach between their bodies and tease Gail's clit with her fingers. It didn't take long before she had completely worked her up. Gail couldn't wait any longer.

"Holly, please." Her sincerity showed in her eyes, leaving Holly with no option but to surrender herself to the woman she loved. She lowered herself back down for a moment to kiss Gail lightly and then brought herself back up enough to bring the tip of the shaft between Gail's waiting legs. Holly couldn't help but tease her with it. Gail however, had no patience, and pulled at Holly's hips, trying to spur Holly on. Holly took the hint and slipped into Gail, eliciting a loud moan from her in the process.

Gail slipped her arms around Holly, pulling her fully against her body, wanting to feel every bit of skin as she could as Holly thrust in and out of her. Gail's head was swimming, heat rising inside of her at each passing minute. The familiar heat began to build, edging her close to her release. She wasn't ready for this moment to end though, so she pushed Holly lightly back. She felt Holly ease out of her, slightly confused, but still eager.

"I just, I need a moment." Gail confessed, flipping Holly onto her back. Holly nodded knowingly, and let Gail take the lead.

Gail slid down Holly's body, settling on her bare breasts. Her mouth found the left as her right hand took control of the right. She let her tongue graze across her nipple, teasing her lightly, before taking it fully into her warm mouth. Holly's torso rose up, trying to meet Gail desperately. Gail had settled herself down against Holly, and her movements were causing the strap-on to tease her clit. It didn't take long before Holly was moaning loudly into the air, begging Gail to let her finish.

Gail relented and rose up to straddle Holly. Their eyes met for a moment before Gail lowered herself back down on the shaft of the dildo. Both women fought against the rising tide, trying to hold onto it as long as they could. Holly didn't think it would be much longer; the sight of Gail riding her was too much. But as it turned out, Gail beat her to it, breaking out into uncontrollable spasms, calling out Holly's name. Holly could feel Gail coming; she was so tight it was putting more pressure on her end of the shaft, pushing her closer to release. She felt Gail's wetness spread across her hips as she began to come herself, meeting Gail's release.

They tumbled to the bed together, completely sated. It took Holly a good five minutes before she even found the energy to pull out of Gail and slide onto her side of the bed.

"Holy shit Holly." Gail's voice was barely a whisper, and completely hoarse.

"You are telling me. Wow."

Gail curled up against Holly's side, wrapping her up in her arms. She kissed her gently on the temple and whispered in her ear. "I don't think I have ever gotten that wet before."

Holly chucked, but there was definitely truth to Gail's statement. "Well, I don't think I have ever made someone that wet before either. So, Officer, did I prove my point?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, you did. But I think we need to change these sheets before we do anything else." Holly just snorted in response.

* * *

By 6pm, they had finished cleaning up the apartment, showered, and started preparing for dinner. By 6:30, both were ready to open a bottle of wine (or whiskey) to settle their nerves. Instead Holly left to go pick her parents up, leaving Gail to deal with any arriving guests. Luckily it was Traci and Steve that showed up first, taking some of the tension away. At least she wouldn't be forced to answer her mother's impending questions alone. Sure enough not a minute later than 7pm, Elaine and Bill Peck showed up, shortly followed by Holly and her parents.

After a few minutes of Elaine boring everyone with police talk, Holly suggested they sit down to dinner. Once all the seats had been filled, and food was passed around the table, Gail and Holly realized they were going to have to say something soon…both of their parents kept shooting curious glances their way.

"So, which one of you is pregnant?" Eric asked completely straight-faced. Mary turned in her seat and smacked him lightly, but still turned back towards the two women across from her, half expecting an answer.

Holly placed her wine glass down on the table, rolling her eyes. "Neither of us are pregnant."

Gail had snuck a glance over at her parents, curious to see if they were taking everything in stride. She was surprised to find her mother looking slightly disappointed when Holly assured everyone they were not pregnant. Maybe tonight would go better than planned if her mother was hoping for babies already.

"We do have an announcement though." Holly continued and reached out for her hand under the table.

Gail looked over towards Holly and nodded at her unspoken question. It seemed the time had come. "Holly asked me to marry her. And I said yes, obviously."

Gail glanced back over to her mother, who was absolutely beaming. It warmed Gail's heart to see her so open and happy, approving of the engagement. Their families took turns congratulating them and gushing over the engagement.

"So how did you propose?" Steve asked to Holly.

Holly and Gail shot nervous glances at each other. How had neither of them thought about that? Of course someone was going to ask, and it wasn't like they could tell the truth. An awkward silence filled the room as they both tried to grasp some explanation. Bill finally broke the silence.

"I have a feeling we don't want to hear that story."

Gail instantly blushed at being called out. Quickly she found an excuse to leave the table, offering to grab another bottle of wine from the kitchen. She was followed only a moment later by Holly.

"You okay?" A soothing hand found Gail's back.

She nodded her head in reply and grabbed the bottle. "Maybe we should just tell them that you proposed after life altering sex, how do you think that would go?"

Holly snorted at her ridiculous fiancé. "Babe, I am pretty sure they figured that much out already."

"Oh my God. I can't go back out there." Gail mumbled into Holly shoulder.

"Oh yes you can, and you will. Traci keeps winking at me from across the table, so you have to come back if I do."

Gail lifted her head back up, unable to contain her own giggles. "Fine nerd, I will go back out there." She kissed Holly lightly on the lips, put on a brave face, and strode back out to the table.


	41. Chapter 41

"Gail, we are not registering for our wedding at an adult toy store."

"Way to ruin the fun, nerd."

"Yeah, well, I doubt that either of our families would appreciate that, although I bet we could get some pretty awesome gifts from our friends now that I think about it…"

Gail tried to push Holly off of the bed. "Geez, I was joking Holly."

"Well no shit, Sherlock. I was just playing along." Holly settled herself back into her spot. "But on a serious note, where are we going to register at?"

"I don't know Holly, one of those weird fancy stores, with the silver junk people never use or something. It's not like I have gotten married before, how should I know?"

"I don't want any 'silver junk people never use'. Maybe we should just tell people to deposit money into a Swiss bank account. That way when we become international crime lords, we are set. We could build an evil lair."

Gail burst out into laughter. "Oh. My. God. Holly, I don't think I can handle that level of nerd."

Holly rolled over on top of Gail, pinning her to the bed. "Too bad, you already said yes, you are stuck with me Peck."

"I want a divorce then, I didn't sign up for this much nerdiness."

"You can't divorce me, you ass, we aren't married yet."

"Minor details. I'll just call off the wedding then."

"Oh, well in that case, I guess we probably shouldn't go for round two. It would be inappropriate for me to sleep with you again if this is the end."

"I think we could make an exception, you know, for closure or something."

"Or something."

Gail flipped Holly onto her back, both women overcome with fits of laughter.

* * *

"Ollie, what do you think of this one?"

Oliver walked up to the counter Gail was looking at. She watched as he thought over her selection. She was pretty sure this was the right ring, but she needed Oliver's opinion before she committed.

"I think that is the one. Holly will love it." He stated, standing to put a reassuring hand on Gail's shoulder. "You are going to make your future wife very happy Peck."

Gail blushed a bit, but she knew that Oliver was beyond happy for them. They had always had a good friendship, and with everything they had been through together, it had only gotten tighter. That was why she had brought Oliver to help her pick out Holly's wedding ring. She wanted him by her side through this. This brought her to her next step.

"So Ollie, I was thinking, and you can say no if you don't want to, but I was hoping you would be like my best man, or maid of honor, or whatever…"

"Holly really has turned you into a big softie, hasn't she?" He teased.

"Shut it before I change my mind."

"Alright, alright Gail. Of course I will be your best man or maid of honor, as long as I don't have to wear a dress that is." She smiled up at him, and in a moment of weakness, pulled him into a hug. She quickly righted herself and let Oliver go, off to find a salesperson to talk to about making her purchase.

* * *

Holly drove through the city, wind in her hair, music full volume. She knew Gail had gone to talk to Oliver, but had refused to tell her where they were meeting. She was pretty sure that she could make a fairly accurate educated guess, but she let Gail have her moment. Instead, she had grabbed some food from a vegan café Celery showed her, and made her way over to see just that woman. Her and Gail had spoken about who they wanted by them at their wedding. Obviously their siblings would be part of the wedding party, but their relationships with Oliver and Celery had reached a whole new level as of late, and it only felt fitting to have them by their sides.

She reached Oliver and Celery's place quickly, and let herself in, dropping the food on the table and going to find Celery.

"Hey there lady. How is it going?" Holly asked, joining Celery in her garden.

"Oh, hey Holly. Good, good. I take it Oliver went to go meet with Gail then?" She dusted her hands off and followed Holly back into the kitchen to clean up for their lunch.

"You would be correct. I am pretty sure they went ring shopping for me. Gail kept making these weird excuses for why she wouldn't tell me where they were going." She laughed silently, enjoying the secret of knowing.

Celery nodded. "I think you are right. Oliver wouldn't tell me what was going on either. I guess he thought I would tell you. He would be right too."

They both fell into a comfortable laughter. Celery washed up and helped Holly unload the food.

"How about we eat in the garden? Nice day out." Holly suggested. Celery agreed and led them back out with freshly filled plates. They ate slowly, taking in the nice day, and the breeze, talking about work and their relationships.

"So…I have to admit. I actually have an ulterior motive for coming over for lunch." Holly said, pushing her empty plate out of reach. Celery gave her an intrigued look so Holly continued. "I was hoping you would be my maid of honor."

"Of course I will Hun. I am just surprised you asked me." She pushed her own plate out of the way and took Holly's hands in her own, absolutely beaming.

"Well, you and Ollie are practically our family now, and we have been through so much, and you have been such a rock for me through it all."

"True. Very true." She teased. "You really have become like a sister to me, and I know that Oliver absolutely loves you both too." Celery smiled across the table at her. "So, if Gail is off ring shopping, when are you going to go?"

Holly's smile widened. She pulled her bag close to her and dug through it, pulling a small box out. "I actually have had this for a while. Even before I asked Gail to marry me. I saw it one day and just knew it was the right one." She opened the box to show Celery.

"She is going to love this Holly. I think you did a damn good job on this one." She handed the box back to the other woman and they quickly settled into happy discussions of wedding planning. By late afternoon Oliver came home with Gail in tow. They all chatted for a while, but Gail made it pretty obvious she was eager to get Holly home and get her in bed. It didn't take long for Holly to give in and drag Gail home.


	42. Chapter 42

Traci and Gail stood by the bar, looking over towards where Holly and Steve stood talking quietly. Traci nudged Gail to grab her attention again. "I really hope Steve isn't giving her the talk again."

"What do you mean?" Gail asked, completely confused.

"I mean, I hope he isn't over there threatening her again. It is a little late at this point, considering you just said 'I do' like an hour ago."

Gail damn near gave herself whiplash turning to look at Traci. "What the fuck Traci…why didn't you tell me he did that?"

Traci surrendered hands up. "I figured Holly told you about it. It was a while back Gail. I didn't even know until like a month ago, he just mentioned it all nonchalant."

"She never said anything." Gail glanced back over to her brother and wife. At least they were smiling, that was a good sign. "When did this happen?"

Traci took a drink of her water, trying to postpone the inevitable discussion. "Uh, it was when you and Holly were kind of separated. Well, right after that to be more specific. When he found out you got back together, he may have gone down to the morgue and threatened her a bit not to break your heart again."

Gail sighed to herself, but felt oddly at ease knowing her brother had her back. Holly of course, had worked her ass off since then to work through her emotional struggles, and to rebuild her and Gail's relationship. They never would have made it here otherwise.

Gail pulled herself back to the present and turned to talk to Traci again. "So, do you have a name yet?"

* * *

Holly grabbed a bottle of champagne and snuck out of the room, finding Gail in of all places, the coat closet. She couldn't help the grin that spread across her face.

"Fancy meeting you here." She said, offering Gail the bottle.

"Yeah, well, I heard it was a good place to pick up chicks. Figured I would try my luck."

Holly took a seat next to her, taking a drink from the bottle Gail had just handed back to her. "Hhmm…let me know how that turns out. Looks like I am in the market for new woman too."

They both laughed quietly. "You know Holly, I never really thought I would get here. I mean of course I have been in love before, and I thought about it, but I never really thought that I would find someone who saw me like you do, someone who loves me unconditionally, who would actually marry me. Until you."

Gail turned, suddenly serious, looking to connect with Holly's eyes. "And now that we are here, actually married, I can't be more thankful that everyone else didn't work out. Because I really can't imagine a life without you."

"Neither can I babe." Holly leaned in to place a soft kiss on her new wife's lips. "What do you say we get out of here? I have a surprise for you."

Gail followed Holly outside, stepping into a waiting cab. It was a relatively short trip, depositing them in front of a hotel Gail had never heard of. It looked brand new. She followed Holly in, getting their room keys from the front desk. Holly led her to an elevator, and out of habit, Gail took Holly's hand in her own to settle the woman's nerves. That was one thing Gail doubted would ever change; Holly would always be scarred of elevators. Just one of the many endearing qualities she couldn't help but love.

They reached their floor and started down the hallway towards their room. Gail had a weird feeling about this place; she couldn't quite put a finger on what it was.

"Babe, what's wrong?" Holly had stopped in her tracks at the realization that Gail had fallen behind.

"Nothing. I just have a really strong déjà vu feeling." Gail said, still staring around her, trying to place the feeling.

"Déjà vu huh? What, are you going to tell me that you secretly married another super-hot pathologist and this is just coming back to you?" Holly joked.

Gail turned back to her wife and smirked. "What makes you think I would tell you if I had?" She winked at Holly and then caught up to her. Whatever the feeling was she would shake it off. It was her wedding night after all, and Gail was 10,000% sure that the last things on her mind tonight would be some weird déjà vu feeling.

Holly shot Gail a smug glance of her own and opened the door to their suite. She was barely three steps into the room before it hit her. "Holly, are we where I think we are?"

"Yeah. They finished construction just in time." She shut the door behind her and stepped into Gail's embrace.

"I can't believe you did this." Gail looked up into Holly's eyes, trying desperately not to start crying. "I had no idea that they were making this into a hotel."

She pulled out of Holly's arms and dragged her over to the window. They stared out together, taking in a familiar view.

Holly leaned down to place a light kiss behind Gail's ear. "I figured it would only be fitting, seeing as this was really where it all started…officially at least. And I doubted you wanted to spend our wedding night having sex in that grungy interrogation room. I may have had to do some sweet talking to get us this particular room, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do."

"How many people did you have to show your boobs to?" Gail joked, only slightly serious.

"No full boob, just some serious cleavage. Only the best for you." She winked at Gail again.

Gail snorted at her. "Geez nerd, you are insane, you know that right?"

Holly nodded her head and pulled Gail into a kiss, leading her towards the king size bed.

* * *

It was nearly three in the morning, yet neither of them were the least bit tired. Holly's body still buzzed. She couldn't believe the stamina she had when it came to Gail. It never ceased to take her by surprise. Which is why she lay, still wrapped up in Gail's limbs, thinking about how she got so lucky.

"Hey baby?" Gail whispered, sliding her hand across Holly's bare stomach.

"Hmm?"

"Why did you never tell me that Steve confronted you?"

Holly sat up, thinking of the best way to explain her reasoning. "I don't know really. I think because he knew how much I had hurt you; he just wanted to protect you Gail." There was a moment of silence, so Holly continued. "I think I kind of expected it though. I know it was a difficult decision to forgive me and come back, and I was just so thankful that you had. I knew he did what he did out of love."

Gail pulled Holly back down to bed with her. "That wasn't what you two were talking about tonight was it?"

"Nope, we were just swapping Gail Peck horror stories."

"Hey now, that is Mrs. Gail Stewart-Peck to you lady."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Holly couldn't help the smile that found her face none the less. "So nosey, what was it you were talking to Traci about?"

"About the baby. Traci thinks it is going to be a boy. She said she just has this feeling."

Holly rolled over so she could look Gail in the eyes. "That would make three boys in that house hold, including your brother. Poor Traci."

"I know. I kind of hope we have a boy first though. When we do have kids. I have the perfect name picked out already."

Holly's breath caTheught in her throat. They had only casually discussed kids before, but the way Gail just threw that out made her heart skip a beat. Gail was dead serious too, she could tell. The thought of the two of them standing over a crib together make Holly swoon with joy. "What name is that?"

"Elliot."

"Elliot?"

"Yeah. It's just something that reminds me of us a lot."

Holly gave her a slightly confused look, so Gail explained.

"When Jerry and Traci were together, she told him that she didn't think that people were necessarily meant to be monogamous, that it was only something that a few animals did, like elephants. I of course was eavesdropping on the whole thing. Well anyways, he told her that it was for him, that he wanted to just be with her and she could call him an elephant. It always just stayed with me I guess, and I know that for you, I am an elephant. And when we have a kid, he or she will be part of that too, that everlasting one of a kind love."

Holly nodded with understanding. "So that is why you picked Elliot, because it reminds you of and elephant?"

"Yeah. I know it is weird."

"It's not weird at all Gail. I like it. When we have a boy, we can name him Elliot. Or if it is a girl, we could name her Ellie."

Gail pulled Holly into sudden kiss, completely overcome with adoration and love for the woman next to her. She couldn't wait to start a family with Holly, and she had a feeling that Holly couldn't wait to start one with her either.

**_THE END_**

* * *

**_Well, it has been quite a journey writing this, and sharing with everyone. I hope that you all have enjoyed this story as much as I have. I just really want to thank everyone for all of the support and reviews throughout this. I can't tell you how much it has meant to me to see such amazing feedback on my first story. You all have truly inspired me to continue writing, and for that, I raise a glass to you all. _**


End file.
